


Lune de Miel

by TheNinjaTurkey



Category: Gosick
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Long, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 02:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 50,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13285017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNinjaTurkey/pseuds/TheNinjaTurkey
Summary: Three months have passed since Kujo and Victorique were married. They plan to spend their honeymoon in Sauville, where they first met. They meet old friends, visit places from their academy days, and get involved in a case that will change their lives forever.





	1. Chapter 1

Japan, Summer of 1929.  
Victorique sat on the Kujo family’s living room floor. She was engrossed in a book she had brought with her from Sauville.  
Kujo was in the other room, speaking Japanese to his family members. Victorique had spent a long time in Japan while she was waiting for Kujo to return from the war, but she didn’t know enough Japanese to make much of a conversation. She basically only knew how to call Kujo an idiot and how to ask for sweets. The only person she could talk to on an intelligent level was Kujo, for he could speak French, her native tongue. Because of this, when she and Kujo were visiting his family, she usually just sat down and read, like she always used to in the great library.  
“Stupid Kujo,” She thought, “Leaving me here to talk to his family when we’ve just been reunited after so many years. Doesn’t he know how isolating it is to only know one person who can speak your native language?”  
Although Victorique complained, she was secretly happy with only having Kujo to talk to. She’d never admit it in public, but Kujo was the only person she needed anyway.  
Victorique’s reading was interrupted when she heard her name being called from the dining room.  
“Victorique! Victorique! Dinner’s ready! Come and get it!”  
Victorique smiled. It was Kujo. Ever since they were reunited, the sound of Kujo’s voice always brought a smile to her face, which she quickly tried to contain to maintain her stoic, logical demeanor.  
She walked into the dining room and took a seat. Kujo’s sister sat next to her as Kujo and the rest of the family set the table.  
Kujo’s sister had been trying to learn French for Victorique’s sake for awhile now, but she wasn’t very good. She attempted to talk to Victorique, but it never came out making much sense.  
“Victorique, this food I’m you will like! Japanese delicacy is!”  
Victorique simply nodded and gave a slight smile, she wasn’t sure if this woman would ever learn French.  
The Kujo family, which Victorique was now a member of, sat down to eat. They all put their hands together and said, “Itadakimasu!” Which Victorique understood meant something like, “Thanks for the food!”  
Japan was much different from Sauville, Victorique didn’t much care for the food, as she was used to a European diet, but she ate it anyway, out of respect for Kujo’s parents. She would have to get Kujo to get her some sweets or something later.  
Dinner was lively as the Kujo family talked about various things. Victorique even joined in, using Kujo as a translator. She was sure that she would someday learn Japanese, she did live in Japan now after all. But until then, Kujo had to be her translator, it was somewhat annoying, but Victorique appreciated Kujo’s help with the matter.  
Soon, it was late and time for Kujo and Victorique to leave. They waved goodbye, got in their carriage and began the short journey home.


	2. Chapter 2

The journey from Kujo’s childhood home to their new home was not far, but it was far enough that Kujo and Victorique could have a quiet conversation as the landscape passed slowly by. This time, it was about Victorique’s Japanese.  
“Your Japanese is getting better, Victorique,” said Kujo in perfect French.  
“You think so? I can barely understand what you or anyone else is saying in that house, and your sister’s French leaves something to be desired.”  
“It’ll come, it took me years to learn French. I almost gave up, but I’m glad I didn’t,” Kujo said as he smiled at Victorique.  
“Naturally,” Victorique responded half jokingly, “Without French you wouldn’t be able to make use of the Fountain of Wisdom that dwells within me. How many times do you think it’s saved your life?”  
“Countless times, for sure.”  
After a short pause, Victorique looked at Kujo with a smile and said, “I’m glad you learned French too, and now I need to return the favor by learning your native language.”  
“How about I help you?”  
“Help me, how?”  
“I’ll help you study and speak it with you! Let’s see… Victorique, O genki desu ka?”  
“Uhhhh… Genki desu, Arigatou.”  
“Tabemono wa dou deshita ka?”  
After a few seconds of thinking, Victorique’s face began to resemble that of a pouting squirrel.  
“Too hard.”  
Kujo laughed and then said, “Maybe I’ll try to find you a book in French about Japanese, then you’ll get it with all the reading you do.”  
Victorique said she would appreciate it. They talked about other things as they made their way home, until they finally arrived.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The house was fairly small; it only contained a few rooms, namely, a bathroom, living room, kitchen, and bedroom.  
It was small, but just enough to live in. Victorique and Kujo liked it that way.  
As they entered their home, Victorique removed her shoes and immediately fell over on the living room couch. Talking to anyone other than Kujo exhausted her.  
“There’s still some time until we normally go to bed, are you just going to sleep there?” Asked Kujo.  
“Yes,” Victorique responded, “I might die if I have to move another inch.”  
Kujo laughed and said, “I’m going to take care of some laundry that needs to be done, call me if you need anything!”  
“Wait!” Victorique exclaimed as she quickly sat up.  
Kujo looked at her, confused. Victorique beckoned to Kujo, motioning for him to come closer. Victorique then grabbed his tie and pulled Kujo down to her level. She stared into his eyes for a moment, and then slowly kissed him.  
They stood for a moment, enjoying the feeling of their lips pressed together and the feeling of trust and closeness that came with it, until they slowly pulled away. They smiled into each other’s eyes, not saying anything, as words were not needed.  
Kujo then proceeded to do the laundry, and Victorique relaxed on the couch.  
Ever since their marriage, moments like that had become more common. Before they were married, the most Kujo and Victorique had ever done to show their affection had been to hold hands, but that had all changed since their marriage. Victorique and Kujo freely expressed their feelings for each other, and fully enjoyed doing so.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
An hour or two passed by, Kujo did house work as Victorique read a book on their couch.  
Victorique paused for a moment and looked at her hair, it was still silver from when she dyed it on the trip to Japan.  
“Kujo,” she said.  
“Yeah?” Responded Kujo.  
“Do you think I should keep dyeing my hair silver, or should I let it return to its natural, golden state?”  
“Hmm,” Kujo thought for a minute.  
Victorique’s hair had been silver for a long time now, he liked it the way it was now, as it reminded him of the day of their reunion, but he also wanted to see it the way it was when he first met Victorique.  
“It’s ultimately up to you,” he said, “Your hair is beautiful no matter what color it is, but if I had to choose, I would say let it go back to the golden color it once was.”  
Victorique smiled and said, “It is a pain to dye it all the time, and if you like it more the way it was, then how can I decline?”  
They talked for awhile longer and Victorique decided to dye her hair a golden color again until it naturally returned to its original state.  
Victorique felt herself dozing off and finally decided it was time to sleep.  
“Kujo.” She said as she approached her husband.  
“Yeah?” Responded Kujo.  
“I’m going to sleep, join me when you’re done?”  
“Of course,”  
Victorique climbed the stairs and prepared to sleep, after a few minutes of lying on their bed alone, she felt Kujo lie down next to her.  
Victorique smiled and wrapped her arms around Kujo.  
“Victorique, have you thought about where we should go for our honeymoon?” Asked Kujo.  
Victorique thought for a moment. They had not gone on their honeymoon yet, and had been giving it some thought for awhile now.  
All Victorique knew is that wherever their honeymoon was, it had to be somewhere perfect.  
“I have, but I can’t think of anything yet.” She responded.  
“How about Sauville?”  
“Sauville?” Victorique repeated with some surprise, “Why Sauville?”  
“Well, you said that it had to be somewhere perfect, and while this may be a bit cliché, I thought we should go to Sauville as it’s where we first met.”  
Victorique smiled, “That does sound wonderful.”  
“Think of it,” Kujo said, “We could visit the academy, see the library and your old house where we once hid from the rain, maybe I’ll even get involved in some strange mysteries and you’ll save my life a few times, just like all those years ago.”  
Victorique smiled and gave a small laugh as the memories reentered her mind.  
She then proceeded to say, “Neither of us have been to Sauville since our days at the academy, and while it is a bit cliché, I think that’s a wonderful idea, I would love to relive the memories of when I first met you.”  
“So it’s decided then?” asked Kujo.  
“It’s decided.”  
“Great! We can start making the arrangements tomorrow!” said Kujo with glee.  
Victorique and Kujo talked excitedly for awhile about their return to Sauville, until they eventually drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Two weeks later.  
The preparations were made, and today Victorique and Kujo would be making their way to Sauville. They could barely contain their excitement.  
They would be taking a ship from Japan to Sauville and would be staying in the small town near St. Marguerite Academy.  
They planned to visit the academy, the capital city of Saubreme, and other places and people from their academy days.  
Letters had been sent in advance to people like Grevil, Victorique’s brother, Cecile-Sensei, Victorique and Kujo’s old teacher, and many others from their academy days all in hopes of seeing them again.  
Kujo woke up on the day they would leave, and found that Victorique was already up. He assumed that she was getting ready to go, and starting getting dressed.  
He walked down the stairs and Victorique was nowhere to be found. Confused, he opened the door to find that Victorique was sitting outside on a mountain of suitcases.  
She was wearing a travelling dress, similar to the one she had worn on their trip to Seillune, the village of the Gray Wolves.  
“Victorique!” Kujo exclaimed, “You know we can’t take this much stuff on the boat!”  
“Silence!” Victorique shouted, “My fountain of wisdom has calculated that this is the absolute minimum amount of supplies we will require on our honeymoon!”  
“It’s true that we’re going to be in Sauville for a long time, and we do need a lot of stuff, but we simply can’t bring this much stuff with us, there are other people on the boat you know!”  
He proceeded to open the suitcases and then paused. “Wait a minute, hasn’t this happened before?” he asked.  
“It has, and I recall that you left most of my baggage behind, and we ended up needing some of what we left behind, I had to feed you part of my food!” Victorique responded.  
Kujo laughed and said, “We’ll do what we can to fit all of this, but we’ll have to cut back on some of it.”  
Victorique sighed and nodded in agreement.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
It was finally time for them to make their way to the harbor.  
They loaded their items onto the ship and found the room where they would be staying during their journey. The trip from Japan to Sauville would take awhile, a few weeks to a month, depending on the conditions, so they would have plenty of time to enjoy the journey.  
Victorique and Kujo spent their first night on the boat in their quarters, quietly talking and reading books. The next morning, Kujo and Victorique got up and decided to take a walk around the boat, as it would be their home for the next few weeks.  
Victorique and Kujo were not rich by any means, Kujo had received a decent amount of money for his time served in the military, and Victorique had received a small amount of money from the De Blois estate, but most of that went to Grevil. As such, their accommodations and the luxuries they had access to were decent, but not lavish.  
They had a small room with a bed for them to share, and had access to a dining area, where they could get three meals a day, and the main deck where they could admire the ocean.  
Kujo thought it might be kind of boring being confined to these areas during their journey, but he found that being with Victorique gave him all the entertainment he needed, not to mention all of the books they had brought with them, Victorique packed a metric ton of the things!  
Victorique and Kujo eventually created a routine for their days spent on the ship. In the morning they would get up and walk around the deck, in the afternoons they would read in their room, and at nights they would take a long walk through every part of the ship that they could, before retiring to their room to sleep.  
It was simple, and sometimes incredibly boring, but Kujo and Victorique enjoyed it immensely. Kujo half expected for them to get involved in another murder case or something, it had happened to them all the time in their time at the academy. However, that hadn’t happened for a long time, not since the academy. Still, with his luck, Kujo would get involved in a case and Victorique would have to save him from it, again. He didn’t doubt that such a thing would happen sometime in their future.  
It was two weeks into their journey, and Victorique and Kujo were sitting quietly in their room. Victorique was reading on the bed, and Kujo was sitting nearby looking out the window.  
Victorique paused and looked down at the locket Kujo had given her. She opened it and saw the drawing Kujo had made when he gave it to her, the same one she discovered when she and Kujo were separated and she was on her way to Japan.  
She took it out and opened it, admiring Kujo’s bad drawing skills.  
“Being on this ship reminds me of the war, when you were fighting and I was stuck on a ship very similar to this one and on my way to Japan.” She said.  
“Yes, you’ve told me about that before, is that the drawing you found in your pendant back then?” He asked.  
“Yes.”  
Kujo smiled. “I’m glad it was able to give you some happiness during that dark time. I know that having your ring with me gave me strength to keep fighting, day in and day out.”  
Victorique smiled, “There was a time that I was afraid that we were never going to see each other again, I was scared that you would die, or that my ship would be attacked and sink. I worried every day, especially with you being in the military.”  
“Those were hard times, and being separated from you made it worse, it’s lucky that Jupiter Roget was able to give you those letters, or you may not have been able to find my family without my address.”  
“Ha! My fountain of wisdom would have shown me the way,” boasted Victorique, “I would have never let something as simple as an address separate me from my heart.”  
Kujo laughed and said, “Well your detective skills are incredible, I’m sure you would have found me either way.”  
Victorique smiled and said, “I’m glad we’re together now.”  
Kujo agreed.  
After a few moments, Victorique put her book away and said to Kujo, “I’m tired, will you join me for bed?” Kujo nodded and got in bed next to her. He turned out the light and all was dark.  
Victorique smiled as she felt her partner beside her. She was so happy to be alive.


	4. Chapter 4

Nearly four weeks had gone by.  
Victorique and Kujo’s journey to Sauville was complete. They pulled into Saubreme harbor, the main port of the Kingdom of Sauville.  
They left the ship and began their trip to the train station. They would have time to visit Saubreme later, they first wanted to see the academy.  
Kujo hailed a horse and buggy and they were off. Once at the train station, they immediately bought tickets, and were soon off for St. Marguerite academy.  
Once they were on the train, Kujo and Victorique spent a long while staring out the window, enjoying the Sauville countryside fly by.  
Kujo then said, “We’ve spent a lot of time together on trains, haven’t we?”  
“Yes, I suppose we have,” said Victorique, “When we first went to Saubreme to see Grevil’s yacht, when we went to Saillune, when you saved me from my captivity at Phantasmagoria,” she laughed, “And on our way back, you helped me disarm that bomb that was going to derail the train, I guess it was a pretty dire situation at the time, but I can’t help but laugh when I remember things like that.”  
“You know what makes me laugh?”  
“What?”  
“I never told you about it, but when we were on our way to Saubreme the first time to see Grevil’s yacht, I remember you were looking out the window of the train as if you had never ridden one before. I thought it was cute, and kind of funny, which is why I poked you and claimed it was a game from Japan, I just had to see if what I was seeing was real.”  
Victorique let out a small laugh.  
“At one time I may have kicked you for calling me cute, but these days I take great pleasure in hearing you say things like that.”  
They continued to talk for the rest of their journey, mostly about their adventures during their days at the academy.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kujo and Victorique gasped in astonishment and glee as they approached St. Marguerite Academy.  
The train was approaching the station, and they both caught a glimpse of the gates as they pulled into the nearby town. Seeing the academy brought back many fond memories for them both, and they were delighted to see it again.  
The train pulled into the station and they departed in a hurry. They made their way through the nearby town until they reached the academy gates. As they approached the gates, they paused to take in the moment, a moment they had been waiting for since they originally planned their honeymoon. The fall semester had begun, and looking through the gates Victorique and Kujo could see students moving throughout the campus, just as they had once done. They walked through the gates and smiled, as they had finally reached the place they had most wanted to visit.  
The first place they visited was naturally, the great library.  
Kujo and Victorique met in the library, and had spent a great deal of time together in the tower of wisdom.  
Victorique was not allowed to leave the campus when she was a student at the academy, and because of her love of books, she spent most of her time there. Kujo entered the library as a new student and met Victorique there, triggering a multitude of events and the greatest friendship that either of them had ever experienced. As such, the library held a special significance for both Victorique and Kujo. They had their friendship, and their marriage thanks to the library.  
They approached the tower, hand in hand. When they reached the entrance, Victorique paused and looked up at the tower.  
“We’re here,” she said with tears in her eyes, “To think that I once thought of this place as a prison, but now it holds such a special place in my heart.”  
“I never thought of the tower as a prison, but I guess I didn’t spend as many boring hours in it as you have. This place just reminds me of meeting you and of all the time we spent here.” said Kujo.  
“That’s true,” said Victorique, “Come on, let’s not waste any time, I want to see the botanical garden!”  
She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her. They climbed the stairs, avoiding the elevator. As they climbed, Kujo noticed that Victorique was absolutely delighted, and come to think of it, he was as well.  
They reached the top of the stairs and were greeted with a familiar sight. The botanical garden at the top of the library had not changed a bit, it was filled with all kinds of plants, and it had the same painted ceiling and the floor like a chessboard.  
Victorique let out a cry of delight, she looked around the room with her eyes wide open, trying to take in every detail. The first thing Kujo did was to walk up to a small cupboard. He opened it, only to find nothing inside. Victorique stopped for a moment, laughed, and walked over to him.  
“So this was my hiding spot, huh?” she said.  
“Yeah,” said Kujo, “You would always hide in here when you were scared, it used to have sweets and books inside to keep you occupied while you hid from whatever you were scared of. I recall that you didn’t hide from me.”  
“Ha! Kujo Kazuya, scary. What a thought that is. You scream at the smallest amount of fear. I mean, you even once thought that the place where Avril was tied up was haunted!”  
“Haha. I suppose I am somewhat excitable.”  
“HERE! IT WAS RIGHT HERE!” exclaimed Victorique with excitement.  
“Here? What was here?” asked Kujo.  
Victorique pointed to a spot on the floor, just in front of a balcony overlooking the center of the tower.  
“This is where we would often sit,” she said, “You and I, remember how you would come to visit me almost every day? This is where we sat.”  
Kujo’s eyes lit up, remembering, “That’s right! You would read books and I would talk to you and offer you whatever present I had brought that day.”  
Victorique laughed and then said, “You don’t give me nearly as many presents as you used to, what a terrible way to treat your wife!”  
Kujo knew she was teasing him, but he still said, “Then I shall have to double my efforts! I’ll bring home presents twice daily, princess-sama.” He bowed as he said this.  
Victorique laughed and then donned a serious, noble demeanor.  
“That will do.”  
They spent a long while exploring the library, reliving their time in the academy. They spent most of their time in the botanical garden, but they also combed the library’s shelves for books, at Victorique’s urging.  
Soon they decided to move on to their next destination. Victorique took Kujo’s hand, and they descended the stairs together.


	5. Chapter 5

A few hours had passed, Victorique and Kujo were leaving the library. They would be sure to visit it again during their stay. The sun was setting, and they would soon have to return to their room.  
Kujo turned to Victorique and said, “Where do you want to go now?”  
“To my old house, we shared quite a few memories there as well, didn’t we?”  
Kujo nodded and they went in the direction of the house. Once they arrived, they went through the maze that guarded the entrance to the house and were soon at its front door.  
Victorique and Kujo had both expected to see the house changed somewhat, but it had not changed at all since they last saw it.  
The door was locked, but Victorique found a key hidden in an envelope in the mailbox, almost as if someone left it there for them.  
When they opened the door, they each felt a rush of nostalgia. Victorique and Kujo had not spent as much time here as in the library, but they both had many happy memories of this house.  
Upon entering the house, Kujo mentioned that his favorite memory of being there with Victorique was when they were taking shelter from the rain and Victorique tried to make him tea. Tried, until she tripped on her kimono.  
“Speaking of which Victorique, do you know where that kimono went?” asked Kujo.  
“In my haste to leave Sauville when the war started and I was being pursued, I wasn’t able to grab it. Everything looks untouched, I wonder if it’s here? It would probably still fit.” said Victorique.  
They entered Victorique’s old bedroom and sure enough, there it was, sitting on her bed where she last left it.  
“I didn’t take this with me when my father took you away from me. I didn’t want something to happen to it when he took me to that horrible place.”  
Kujo didn’t exactly know what this “horrible place” was like, but he knew she was talking about where she was held by Duke De Blois shortly after he was sent back to Japan for the war. Based on what Victorique had told him, Kujo knew it was not a friendly place.  
“I’m happy to see this again. This is definitely going back to Japan with us,” said Victorique.  
She then turned to Kujo, wrapped her arms around him, and said, “After all, this is one of my favorite presents from you.”  
Kujo smiled and said, “I can show you how to wear it properly, if you’d like.”  
“Don’t count on it. It’s too hard to wear, better to use it as pajamas.”  
They looked through the rest of the house, surprised at how much it looked just the way it did during their academy days.  
“It’s been almost five years since we were here, I would have thought the academy would have repurposed it or something,” said Victorique.  
“Yeah,” agreed Kujo, “But what would they do with it? They couldn’t have made this a dorm or held classes in it, I guess they just left it.”  
“But it’s clean! If no one had cleaned it, this house wouldn’t be in such a great state!”  
They walked out the doors and immediately saw a familiar face.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“KUJO-KUUUUUUUUUUUN! VICTORIQUE-SAAAAAAAAAAAN!”  
Standing a few feet from the house’s front porch was Cecile-Sensei, Victorique and Kujo’s teacher.  
“Cecile-sensei!” proclaimed Kujo.  
Cecile was Kujo’s homeroom teacher when he was in the academy. She was Victorique’s teacher too, but as she was almost never in class, she never taught Victorique much of anything.  
Victorique didn’t like going to class, she felt that she could teach herself anything, and had no need for people like teachers to educate her.  
Upon seeing Cecile, Kujo realized that she looked significantly older. Cecile was only in her early twenties when Kujo was a student at the academy, and while Cecile was still young, he could tell that she had aged.  
“Kujo! YOU’RE GIGANTIC!” exclaimed Cecile.  
Apparently time had aged Kujo as well.  
“You’ve grown absolutely gigantic since I saw you last! You must be what? Twenty now?”  
“Almost twenty one,” said Kujo, “Same with Victorique.”  
“How time flies, you were both so little when you were students here, well Victorique hasn’t grown much but-”  
She stopped herself when Victorique gave her a glare.  
“Ah ha ha… You both look er… mature! Mature! You’ve both matured.”  
This satisfied Victorique and she relaxed her tense posture. 

“How is it that my old house hasn’t been repurposed, Cecile?” asked Victorique.  
They were walking around the campus, heading towards the main offices.  
“Well, when the war ended, I was promoted to a more prestigious position in the academy’s administration. I’m still an ordinary teacher, but having been here for a while has given me some pull,” said Cecile. “The academy administration knew that you had left, and didn’t know what to do with your house. Some wanted to make it a dorm for especially privileged students, and others wanted to tear it down, but using my newfound power I preserved it for you. The only condition was that I maintain it myself. I simply couldn’t let it fall into someone else’s hands or be destroyed. That wouldn’t feel right.”  
“Thank you, I won’t be here to see it much, but that was very nice of you, Cecile,” said Victorique.  
“Well you’re free to use it anytime! It is your house after all,” said Cecile, “In fact, you two could use it tonight if you wanted to.”  
Kujo looked at Victorique, she responded with a smile and a short nod. Despite the fact that they already had a hotel booked, they would spend their nights at Victorique’s house.  
It was getting late, and Victorique and Kujo were tired from their day. Victorique and Kujo made plans to meet with Cecile in the morning, and then headed in the direction of Victorique’s house.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“It was so nice of Cecile to do that for us,” said Victorique.  
“She always was a great teacher,” said Kujo, “She always cares for her students. She would do almost anything for each and every one of them.”  
“Now I feel bad for giving her so much trouble when we were in the academy. She was assigned to take care of me since my father wasn’t here, so she was almost like a second mother to me. Maybe that’s why I was so difficult with her.”  
Kujo knew he was walking on thin ice when he said this, but he said it anyway, “Well, back then you were a slightly difficult person.”  
Victorique turned and glared. She was about to kick Kujo when she stopped. He was kind of right.  
Before she met Kujo, Victorique was always acting superior and aloof. Kujo had changed that. Victorique gained new respect for her partner upon realizing this truth. Kujo had changed her, he had made her into a kinder, more agreeable person. If it hadn’t been for Kujo, she probably would have stayed as aloof and arrogant as she was before.  
Victorique grabbed Kujo’s hand and then simply said, “Thank you.”  
“Huh?” Kujo responded in confusion.  
Victorique smiled and pulled him along.  
They returned to the house and got ready for bed. They were tired; the long day had taken its toll.  
While Kujo was downstairs unpacking their luggage, Victorique changed into her kimono and fell onto the bed. Victorique recalled being sick in this bed while Cecile nursed her back to health.  
She remembered helping Kujo with a case he got involved in over the phone from this very bed. It wasn’t one of her favorite memories with Kujo, since he wasn’t here and she was too sick to do much of anything, but it brought a smile to her face. She also remembered the shot. Cecile had called a doctor to give her a shot to make her feel better. Victorique still hated shots. She had received a few in Japan, to ward off sickness and cure disease, mostly at Kujo or his sister’s urging. But no matter how many times she was given a shot, she could not get used to them. Victorique was still cringing at the memories of shots she had received when Kujo walked in.  
“Hmm? Is something wrong?” he asked.  
“No, no. It’s nothing,” she responded.  
Kujo shrugged and turned off the light, “I assume you’re ready to sleep? Because I sure am.”  
Victorique nodded and Kujo climbed in bed beside her. Victorique put her arms around him. She was about to close her eyes when something caught her eye. Sitting on a dresser across the room was a shoe made of emerald green stone. The moonlight reflected brilliantly across its surface.  
Her eyes widened as she gasped. She got out of bed before Kujo could respond.  
“What is it?” Kujo asked as Victorique searched their luggage.  
Victorique produced her pipe, the same one she had always had and quickly ran over to the shoe. She took the shoe and placed it on the bedside table. She then placed the pipe within it.  
“I almost forgot about this! Remember? You gave this to me long ago, and I thought it would make a great pipe holder. I can’t believe I didn’t think about looking for this earlier!” Victorique proclaimed.  
Kujo smiled, “I remember. We’ll have to search your house for more things you might have forgotten.”  
“Agreed,” said Victorique, “But that can wait. I’m wiped.”  
Victorique let out a long yawn and again took her place next to Kujo.  
A few minutes passed, and Victorique could feel Kujo’s breathing slow as he drifted to sleep. She rose slightly, and brushed Kujo’s hair off of his face. She stood staring at her husband for awhile, feeling like the luckiest person alive. She gave him a long, warm kiss. As she broke away from him, Victorique noticed Kujo smile in his sleep. She lied down, wrapped her arms around him, and slowly fell into sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Victorique awoke.   
Kujo was gone, as he usually was in the morning. Victorique liked to sleep, while Kujo was a morning person.   
He was always like that, but his time in the military probably reinforced the habit. Victorique understood that Kujo didn’t want to lie there for hours on end while Victorique slept in, but she liked waking up with him next to her. She decided to make Kujo wait for her to wake up next time.   
Victorique sat up and yawned, the morning sunlight filled the room with its warm rays. Based on the position of the sun, Victorique guessed that it was about 10. She had to get ready, she and Kujo had made plans to meet Cecile for lunch at 12.   
She rose from bed and went to find Kujo.   
Kujo was in the kitchen, he had tea and hours old pancakes ready.   
“Good morning,” he said with a smile, “The tea’s fresh, but these pancakes are hours old, so I don’t know if you want them.”   
Victorique pondered the pancakes for a moment, but figured she would just eat when they went to meet Cecile.   
She was still groggy from her slumber, so she wordlessly gave Kujo a kiss on the cheek and returned to the bedroom to pick out her clothing for the day.   
About an hour later, she was ready to go. She returned to the kitchen and drank the now not so fresh tea that Kujo had so kindly prepared.   
Kujo and Victorique sat wordlessly for a while, enjoying each other’s company, when Kujo said, “Ok, so we’re meeting Cecile today, who else do we need to visit while we’re here?”   
They had sent letters to people who they wanted to see while they were in Sauville, but as they had been on a ship for a month, they had not heard back from anyone yet. Victorique recalled that letters were sent to Grevil, Avril, Sophie, Cecile, and Jaqueline. Everyone but Avril lived in Sauville, so it would probably be easy to see everyone at least once while they were here.   
It occurred to them that Avril probably couldn’t have made it from Great Britain.   
“I hope we’ll get to see all of them, it’s been so long,” Victorique said.   
“Yeah, we’ll have to make an effort to spend time with all of them,” said Kujo.   
They sat for a few more minutes, when Kujo checked the time.   
“It’s almost time to go, Cecile said to meet at a nearby restaurant, so we’d better get going if we want to be on time.”   
Victorique rose from her seat and extended her hand towards Kujo. He grabbed it and they were off.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
As they walked through the town nearby Saint Marguerite Academy, Kujo noticed that the town had an abundance of restaurants. During his time in the academy, Kujo ate almost exclusively at the academy dining hall, so he never had much of a chance to experience the town’s local cuisine. He looked forward to trying it out.   
Kujo and Victorique found the restaurant and walked in; they noticed Cecile waving enthusiastically at a nearby table. They joined her and ordered some drinks.   
They spent about an hour catching up with Cecile over food. Cecile asked about Kujo and Victorique’s marriage, life in Japan, and other things. Kujo and Victorique took the opportunity to ask Cecile about her life and Sauville’s recovery from the war.   
“You two left before most of the damage was done. Surely, the damage was severe even when you were just leaving the country, but it only got worse from there. Saubreme was bombed like crazy. I stayed with Sophie far from the capital, so I was relatively safe, but most of Saubreme was destroyed. I guess the same was true for most of the world’s capital cities.”  
Victorique piped in, “It’s true. When I first got to Japan, Tokyo was in shambles. Kujo’s family doesn’t live anywhere near Tokyo, but Kujo and I went once after the war to see the damage, and they’re still rebuilding it.”   
“In my time in the military I saw many cities in near to total ruin. Hardly anyone was safe from the war’s destruction,” Kujo added, “Luckily it seems that all of us were safe from the bombings.”   
“Yeah, the major cities got the worst of it. They’ve rebuilt Saubreme quickly, but there are still areas that need work,” said Cecile.   
The depressing conversation left them all with nothing to say for a few moments.   
Cecile suddenly jumped, as if she had remembered something. “I nearly forgot! I received a letter from your brother, Victorique! Inspector Grevil received your letter about coming to Sauville, and he would like you to visit him in Saubreme as soon as possible!”   
Victorique raised an eyebrow and said, “He doesn’t live here anymore?”   
“Nope! He was transferred to the main detective’s office in Saubreme, and lives there full time now! He says he has a case he would like you to help him with.”   
Victorique sighed, “Leave it to my brother to need help from me with a case when he hasn’t seen me for years. How has he managed all this time without my help I wonder?”   
Victorique’s voice was casual and dismissive, but Kujo noticed a look in her eyes that only he could have noticed due to their long friendship.   
Kujo was sure that Victorique had misgivings about seeing Grevil again.   
“Well, if you decide to help Grevil with the case, he left details in this letter explaining where to meet him. I’m sure he’d understand if you decline, I’m sure you don’t want to spend your honeymoon solving cases,” said Cecile.   
Kujo laughed at her statement. The truth was that he actually enjoyed solving cases with Victorique, and even hoped that they might get involved in one.   
“I have a class to go teach, so I’ll have to leave you two for now. See you again!”   
Cecile dashed off at inhuman speed, probably running late for her class.   
Victorique grabbed the letter off the table and studied it in her hands for a moment, as if pondering whether to open it or not. After a few moments, Kujo suddenly spoke up, causing Victorique to look at him with surprise.   
“So,” he said with a serious expression on his face, “Do you want to help him?”   
Kujo was certainly aware of Grevil’s wrongdoings, it was partly Grevil’s fault that he and Victorique were separated when the war began.   
Victorique’s father had planned to use Victorique as an instrument to gain political power and become the prime minister of Sauville.   
A cult of Monstre Charmant worshippers had overtaken the country, and as Victorique was made to seem like a living manifestation of the Monstre Charmant, the droves of cult members rallied in support of the Duke de Blois.   
Everyone knows that Sauville is a land of stories, and the Monstre Charmant is one of its most powerful. Anyone with a living Monstre Charmant at their side could lead the country with no resistance.   
Just before Kujo was sent back to Japan, he sought the help of Jaqueline de Signore, a close friend of Grevil’s. She asked Grevil to use his influence to allow Kujo to stay, but he instead followed his father’s orders and used Kujo against Victorique, forcing her to go along with the duke’s plan, and subsequently causing Kujo’s deportment and Kujo and Victorique’s five year separation.   
Even after this, he showed Victorique compassion and did not take in her into custody while she was wanted by the government for allegedly murdering the new prime minister, which was actually Cordelia, Victorique’s mother, taking Victorique’s place and setting her and all of Sauville free.   
“What he did was unforgivable, yet he also redeemed himself by letting you go,” said Kujo in reference to the events of the war.   
“He was partially responsible for our separation, but he was also instrumental in allowing us to be reunited,” Victorique said, “Which begs the question, should we help him out? I can’t forgive him for what he did, but I am also forever in his debt for letting me go.”   
There was a long pause as Kujo and Victorique thought it over.   
“He deserves a second chance, he did us a great service by letting me go.” said Victorique.   
Kujo nodded in agreement. “So shall we plan on going to Saubreme tomorrow to help with that case?” asked Kujo.   
Victorique nodded, determined. “Yes, I would like to see my brother again. And it should be fun solving another case, my fountain of wisdom hasn’t had much to solve for a while besides your usual blithering about where you left your hat.”   
Kujo gave a nervous laugh, he did lose his hat often, and it always fell to Victorique to find it.   
So it was decided. They would meet Grevil tomorrow to see what this case had in store for them. The Monstre Charmant and the Springtime Reaper were back to solving cases once again!


	7. Chapter 7

Kujo and Victorique spent a lot of time with Cecile that day, and to prepare for their trip to Saubreme, they decided to take it easy for the rest of the day.   
The following morning, they awoke early and left for the train station at Victorique’s great displeasure.   
“Kujo!” said Victorique, still under the spell of sleep, “Why did we have to take the 8 o’clock train? They have another that leaves at 12!”   
“If we don’t leave now we won’t arrive in Saubreme until the afternoon. We don’t want to arrive when Grevil is getting ready to go home!”   
“He can wait, he was always at my mercy when it came to solving cases, I don’t see how this is any different!”   
Kujo dragged Victorique all the way to the train station. She was always this sleepy in the morning, so Kujo was used to dragging her places when they had to be up early.   
They bought tickets and were off for Saubreme. Kujo anticipated that they would probably be gone for a few days, so he made sure to pack accordingly. Victorique was too tired to care about what he packed, but Kujo was sure that he would get kicked later for forgetting to bring some absolutely essential item. Fortunately, it seems that he would be spared the pain for awhile, because as soon as Kujo and Victorique sat down, Victorique immediately rested her head on Kujo and fell asleep.   
A few hours passed as the train made its way to the capital city.   
Victorique slept the entire time. Kujo enjoyed this time with Victorique, feeling her head pressed against his chest as he watched the landscape fly by was incredibly relaxing.   
Kujo looked down at Victorique. She had stopped dyeing her hair, and it had long since returned to its natural golden hue.   
Suddenly, he was reminded of their time spent together in the great library. Victorique would do this often, get tired and fall asleep on his chest. The happy memories brought a smile to his face as he ran his hands through her hair. At his touch, Victorique sighed with contentment in her sleep. It was moments like this that Kujo liked the most.   
After a few hours the train pulled into Saubreme station. Victorique was still asleep.   
“Victorique. Victorique.” Kujo said her name as he gently shook Victorique to rise her.   
Victorique’s face contorted in annoyance. She let out a small grunt of complaint and slowly opened her eyes.   
Victorique let out a long yawn and looked at Kujo. “We’ve already arrived in Saubreme?” she asked while rubbing her eyes.   
“Yes, you slept the whole way,”   
“I suppose I did. And what a relaxing nap I might add,” said Victorique as she yawned, “I can’t understand how you sleep so little, Kujo. I wouldn’t be able to handle how little sleep you get.”   
Kujo laughed, “Come on, we’d better get off the train.”   
They stepped off the platform and made their way into the city. Victorique, now fully awake, pulled Grevil’s letter out of her sleeve.   
“My brother said we should meet him at the main Saubreme police station. To think that my idiot of a brother would be able to land himself a proper position here of all places, and without my help too! He’s either found himself a new Gray Wolf to help with his cases, or he’s actually gained a modicum of intelligence since last we met.”   
Kujo let out a laugh. “The inspector always was somewhat… special,” he said.   
Kujo and Victorique walked the streets of Saubreme. Victorique wasn’t nearly as excited as their first visit here, as she was well used to freely roaming the world by now, but she couldn’t help looking around at everything that interested her with almost childish enthusiasm.   
Seeing Victorique so excited brought back memories for Kujo. The first time he had brought Victorique here, she had barely seen any of the world outside St. Marguerite Academy, as her father kept her from going outside. She asked him about nearly everything in sight.   
“WHAT’S THAT?!” she would ask.  
“An ice cream stand.”   
“AND THAT?!”   
“A newspaper stand.”   
Kujo’s memories of showing Victorique practically everything there is to know about the world made him smile.   
Victorique soon got tired of walking so they hailed a horse and buggy to take them to the police station. When they arrived, they asked the person at the front desk where Grevil’s office was.   
She pointed them to a room upstairs. Kujo and Victorique approached the door.   
Victorique placed her hand on the doorknob, and just as she was about to open it, she stopped, hands trembling. Kujo noticed this and placed his hand over hers.   
“It’ll be fine, I’m here with you,” he said.   
Victorique smiled. She gained new courage knowing that Kujo was there beside her.   
“Together,” she said.   
They opened the door and stepped inside.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The room was large, much larger than Grevil’s older office.   
In the middle sat a desk covered with papers and various office supplies. On the walls and scattered about the room were a vast assortment of dolls.   
Kujo remembered that Grevil always had a weird fascination with dolls, and he must have moved his collection here when he got the new position. As he was staring into the creepy, beady eyes of a nearby doll, he remembered the reason they were here and turned his head forward.   
Sitting at the desk was a tall, lanky figure. He had long, yellow hair that went down to his shoulders.   
Grevil barely seemed to notice Kujo and Victorique standing there until he suddenly looked up. Grevil let out a shriek of surprise and nearly fell off of his chair.   
He quickly composed himself and let out a cough, “Mhmm. Why if it isn’t the little baby squirrel and my darling sister, who have come all the way from the orient after all this time.”   
“And I see that a certain renowned detective isn’t keeping his hair in proper order,” Victorique said.   
“Well you see, ever since I did you a favor and let you go free, I figured that my debt to you had been repaid.”   
“I suppose that’s true, although I would argue that you are still indebted to me and Kujo for certain other actions taken in the past.”   
She was referring to Grevil allowing Kujo to be deported back to Japan before the war began. Even though everything worked out fine, that was something that she would never forgive him for.   
Grevil sighed, Kujo could tell that he felt bad about what he did. Grevil looked down and to the side, obviously ashamed.   
“Still,” said Victorique, Grevil looked up at her when she spoke, “I am eternally grateful for you letting me go free.”   
There was a silence as Victorique and Grevil looked each other in the eyes. In that moment, Kujo realized that Victorique had forgiven Grevil and accepted him as her brother once again.   
“So,” Grevil said, “I know why you’re here, you’re interested in helping me with that case. But it would be in bad taste for me to immediately delve into such a topic when my sister and her husband have made their way here after so many years. How’s Japan?”   
They spent awhile catching up, Kujo and Victorique told Grevil of their simple yet exciting life in Japan, and Grevil told them of his grand adventures as the new head inspector for the city of Saubreme.   
“The criminals here are much more… zealous than at the academy, but they are no match for the great Grevil!” he said, “Upon hearing from the press that the great Grevil is on the case, many simply turn themselves in without hesitation!”   
Kujo knew that this story was probably made up, but he allowed the inspector his fantasies.   
Victorique, obviously not amused, countered Grevil’s statement.   
“If the ‘Great Grevil’ as you so eloquently put it, has no trouble against the criminals of Saubreme, then why I ask has he decided to employ the help of his little sister?”   
Grevil made a noise of surprise as a look of disdain fell upon his face.   
Composing himself, he spoke, “W-Well, this case is of particular difficulty. Saubreme has pitted its most elite detectives, myself included, against it but to no avail. And considering my sister’s… acceptable detective skills, I thought perhaps she would like a crack at solving this particularly difficult case.”   
Kujo spoke up, annoyed, “Victorique’s ‘acceptable’ detective skills?! And how many times has she helped you with a case? I don’t know, maybe like ALL OF THEM?! You ought to-.”   
Victorique placed her pipe on his lips, stopping him.   
Kujo was always taken aback by Victorique’s indifference to Grevil’s using her smarts to solve cases. Victorique simply didn’t care about fame, and cared only for solving a puzzle that challenged her intellect.   
“So Grevil, this particularly difficult case, care to share some details?” she asked.   
Grevil cleared his throat, preparing to speak.   
“Several weeks ago, the new head of Sauville’s science academy, Alban Celice, was assassinated. He was found dead in the royal palace, lying face down to the ground. He was in a highly traveled area, an area where many should have seen the assassin, yet nobody seems to remember him collapsing or seeing anyone fleeing the scene. He was simply found with a laceration to the neck, we assume made by a knife or a sword. We questioned everyone in the area, but either someone’s lying or nobody really was there at the time of the murder. And that’s it, that’s all we’ve got. A quite perplexing case, no?”   
“I imagine you have already explored the possibility that this was the doing of the ministry of the occult?”   
“We have pursued that possibility, as the science academy and the ministry have always been at odds, but it’s the 20th century, the ways of the occult are being left behind. And because father tried to use the occult to take over the country, the ministry has been stripped down to the point where it has almost no power. They could never hope to regain their former glory by attacking a member of the science academy, times have changed. This is the age of science, not the occult.”   
“In other words, they have no motive to commit a murder, the trouble would not be worth it as there are no possible gains,”   
“Exactly. So while that is a possibility, it is quite unlikely.”   
Victorique placed her pipe between her lips, as she always did while in thought.   
After a few moments, she said, “I cannot solve a case with so little information. The fragments of chaos have not shown themselves, I cannot reorder fragments that are not there.”   
Kujo was always amazed by Victorique’s concentration when it came to solving cases, even without enough information to solve the case, Kujo could almost see Victorique’s brain calculating behind her serious, focused eyes.   
“Grevil, arrange for me to investigate the crime scene, that is the only way I will be able to get closer to solving this case,” Victorique demanded.   
“Very well, I will make the arrangements. I didn’t expect even my sister to be able to solve this case with so little information.”   
Victorique looked at Grevil in surprise, it was out of character for him to acknowledge her detective abilities.   
“Very well. I hate to be rude, but I have some business to attend to before I return home. Will you and Kujo meet me here first thing tomorrow morning?” asked Grevil.   
Victorique nodded, “We will be here. This case sounds like it will adequately challenge my fountain of wisdom.”   
They said their goodbyes and left the building.   
Victorique and Kujo had been talking with Grevil for some time, and the sky was dark as they walked onto the street.   
“I suppose we should get some rest, we have an early day ahead of us tomorrow,” said Kujo.   
Kujo and Victorique already had a hotel reserved as they knew they would be in Saubreme awhile solving the case, so they hailed a horse and buggy and were on their way there.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Once they had checked into the hotel, they unpacked their luggage and took in their room.   
It was fairly modest, but still quite comfortable. They had a balcony overlooking the city, a kitchen for cooking food, a study, and a bedroom. They were going to spend quite awhile here in Saubreme, so they went all out with their accommodations.   
Kujo and Victorique needed to rest for the upcoming day, but they first took some time to admire the city from their balcony. The balcony gave them a great view of the city, as their room was many floors up.   
Kujo stood on the balcony, admiring the many lights of the city. Victorique soon joined him, clad in her kimono. She had gotten better at wearing it, but she didn’t pay too much attention to tying it properly as she only used it as pajamas. Kujo didn’t care though, he thought she was beautiful wearing it no matter if it was properly worn or not.   
Victorique spoke up, “The lights are pretty, aren’t they?”   
“Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Saubreme from this high. It really is a spectacular city,” said Kujo.   
“Have you ever considered living in a city like this?”   
Both Kujo and Victorique had always lived in smaller cities, and had only visited cities the size of Saubreme.   
“I suppose I have. Tokyo is not far from my hometown, as you know. And we would visit it often,” he said, “I was always astounded by its size when we would go there.”   
“Same here,” said Victorique, “I mean, I wasn’t let out much, but on the very rare occasion that we would go to Saubreme, it was always amazing. I guess you’ve seen my reaction to cities of Saubreme’s size.”   
There was a pause.   
“Still, smaller cities have their advantages, where we live isn’t so bad.”   
“Do you want to live in a bigger city?” asked Kujo.   
“Eh. It doesn’t matter to me,” said Victorique, “As long as I’m with you, I don’t care where we are.”   
Kujo smiled, “Same here. I like our small city, but who knows? Maybe we’ll end up somewhere like this someday. But no matter where we end up, I just want to be by your side.”   
Victorique’s eyes were locked on Kujo. Her eyes filled with tears of joy as she took his words in.   
Words like these did not need saying between the two of them, but Victorique always liked to hear them said.   
Kujo knew that Victorique loved him deeply, and he loved her too, but Victorique did not often say so out loud. Many would be discouraged by this, but Kujo knew that Victorique did not always show her emotions freely, even with those she loves. So when she said those words out loud it was especially meaningful.   
“Kujo, I love you,” Victorique said with tears in her eyes.   
“I love you too Victorique.”  
They embraced and stood there for awhile, enjoying their grand view of the city. They stood in each other’s arms for a time, thankful for the other’s love and companionship, until they slipped into bed together, never letting go.


	8. Chapter 8

Running.   
They were running.   
Kujo was running ahead of her, his hand pulling her along.   
She held up her dress so she could run at full speed.   
A look behind them revealed scores of men, garbed in black robes and white masks. The realization hit. They were being chased. By who? And why?   
They ran down a seemingly endless alley, fatigue began to set in. She didn’t think she could run much longer.   
The men were getting closer. Another group of men appear in front of them, blocking their way.   
Kujo stopped, guarding her from the men with his body. A man suddenly reaches for Kujo, pulling him away.   
She tries to call after him, to scream, to do something. But she cannot, she is frozen. She cannot move or speak. Another man turns to her and…   
“Victorique.”   
Victorique’s eyes shot open.   
She was sweaty and shaking from the nightmare. Kujo sat on the bed next to her, his eyes full of concern.   
“Are you ok?” he asked, “You were shaking and screaming in your sleep.”   
Victorique, still shaking, sat up and said, “Yeah, just a nightmare.”   
“Want to talk about it?” Kujo asked.   
“We were running from some men in black robes and… They caught up to us and took you away and… I don’t remember much else.” Victorique stammered.   
“You seem pretty shaken up about it, but it was just a nightmare. Nothing to be worried about,” Kujo said as he embraced Victorique, “I’m right here.”   
Victorique smiled at his touch, the nightmare seemed like a distant memory as he comforted her. Victorique calmed and the shaking ceased.   
She looked up, slowly kissed Kujo’s lips and said, “Thank you, I feel better already.”   
Kujo smiled and stroked Victorique’s hair in response.   
“Well, I suppose we ought to get ready to check out that crime scene,” Victorique said, regaining her composure, “No doubt it will reveal many a secret to my fountain of wisdom.”   
Kujo nodded and left the room to get ready. Victorique’s eyes narrowed.  
“What a disturbing dream,” she thought to herself, “It was, in fact, a dream. But I cannot shake the feeling that it has some significance. A warning perhaps?”   
Victorique realized how ridiculous this sounded and pushed the thought away.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Upon arriving at the royal palace, Kujo and Victorique were greeted by Grevil.   
“Good morning,” he said, “I’ve arranged for you to investigate the crime scene. Seeing that this is the royal palace, you’ll be under armed guard the entire time. It’s annoying, I know, but it can’t be helped after what happened.”   
The guards led Kujo, Victorique, and Grevil into the palace. They were led through a few hallways before they reached a fenced off area.   
The police opened the fence to let them in. The fenced off area was in a hallway, devoid of any furnishings besides paintings of past Sauville government officials on the walls.   
On the ground was an outline of a body, presumably the body of the man who was murdered, Alban Celice.   
“The body has been removed from the crime scene,” said Grevil, “This case has been open for weeks, the body has long since begun to decompose, and an autopsy was conducted, so we let the family bury the body.”   
“Were there any interesting results from that autopsy?” asked Victorique.   
“Well, as far as I know, all they were able to find out was that Celice had been killed by a laceration to the throat. As I said yesterday, they think the laceration was carried out by a knife or a sword.”   
“This isn’t much to work with, Grevil. The only evidence you have is a body outline and the knowledge that the murder was carried out with a knife to the throat? I cannot order the fragments of chaos with such limited information,” Victorique complained.   
Grevil looked at her in surprise, he had not expected Victorique to give up so easily.   
“However,” Victorique continued, “This should prove quite challenging. After all, I’ve solved cases with little evidence before. Give me a moment.”   
Victorique closed her eyes and placed her pipe in her mouth.   
“Uh. Victorique?” Kujo questioned as he reached out to poke her face.   
Victorique raised her hand, signaling him to be silent. After a few moments, she opened her eyes.   
“Grevil. Is there anyone who would know what Alban Celice was doing on the day of the murder?”   
“I suppose his assistant might know something, we’ve questioned him already, but I can bring you to him if you’d like,” said Grevil.   
“Please.”  
Grevil led Kujo and Victorique to another room. The sign outside the door read, “Kingdom of Sauville Science Academy main offices.”   
A man sat at the desk at the entrance.   
“This is Jean Chuquet, former assistant to Mr. Celice,” said Grevil.   
“What is this about?” said Chuquet, “I’ve already told you police everything I know!”   
“I know sir,” said Grevil, “We’ve brought in a detective from elsewhere who is trying to solve the mystery behind Mr. Celice’s murder. She’d like to ask you a few questions.”   
“She?” said Chuquet in surprise, “You do not often see women as detectives, she must really be something, and where is this detective?”   
Victorique was, of course, standing right in front of him. Kujo could sense a storm brewing.   
“I am the detective you idiot! Did you think me a child simply because of my height?! Not everyone is of the ideal height, you know!”   
Kujo had to restrain Victorique so she would not attack Chuquet.   
“Alright! Alright! My apologies Mrs. Detective,” Chuquet said, “What is your name, if I may ask?”   
“Victorique Kujo,” responded Victorique, “Maiden name De Blois. And the greatest detective who has ever lived!”   
“I see, so you are the great detective’s sister, it is not surprising that the sister of one as great as Grevil would also be a brilliant detective.”   
Grevil, flattered, gave a bow.   
Perhaps Grevil really had gotten better at his job. That, or he simply had other people do the work and then took the credit.   
“So,” Chuquet continued, “What questions would you ask of me?”   
“Regarding the victim,” said Victorique eloquently, “What was he doing directly prior to his assassination?”   
“Uh. Well. When was he assassinated again?”   
“Exactly two weeks ago, at 2:14 Pm,” said Grevil.   
“I remember him stopping by at around 2. Mr. Celice was particularly busy that day, so I didn’t see him much. I spent the day sorting paperwork, and I only saw Mr. Celice around 8 and around 2, as I said. I also never saw him leave the room after he went in at 2, so I was quite surprised to find out that he was found dead elsewhere in the palace,” said Chuquet.   
“Can you explain for us what the victim was doing when he stopped by at 8 and at 2?” asked Victorique.   
“Well,” said Chuquet, “At 8 he came into work, was here in his office for half an hour, probably working, and was gone until 2. At 2 he returned and had lunch with a friend as far as I know. I didn’t make a habit of spying on Mr. Celice when he was in his office.”   
“A friend?” asked Grevil, “You haven’t mentioned that before.”  
“I-I didn’t think anything of it at the time,” stammered Chuquet, “I was too surprised at the news of Mr. Celice’s death to remember such a detail when you questioned me.”   
“You said that Celice never left the room,” said Grevil, “Did his friend?”   
“Yes, I remember the friend left some time later, I would guess around 2:30,” said Chuquet.   
“Would you mind describing this friend who visited Celice for us? Can we ask you to give the description to an artist so we might better know what he looks like?” said Victorique.   
“Certainly. I didn’t get a good look at him, but I’ll tell you what I remember,” said Chuquet.   
Grevil brought an artist in and Chuquet began explaining what the man looked like.   
“He had a strangely large top hat, it was much too large for his head. He had a moustache, one that curved down and then upwards symmetrically in both directions. And he had a scar on his eye, as if his eye had once been sliced open. That’s all I remember.”   
The artist scribbled on a piece of paper for awhile before showing it to Chuquet.   
“That does look somewhat like him, I can’t say for sure as I didn’t get a great look at his face.”   
“Surely it will be of help regardless. Thank you Mr. Chuquet,” said Grevil.   
Chuquet nodded and returned to his work.   
“So, what do you think of what he said?” said Grevil to Victorique.   
“Given that we have so little evidence, I believe that this is the best lead we have. Celice met with this friend fourteen minutes before he was killed, and there has to be some connection there. Tell your men to begin a search for this man. In the meantime I would like to search Celice’s office,” said Victorique.   
“Certainly,” said Grevil, “Though we’ve already searched it thoroughly, I’m not sure what you’re hoping to find.”   
Victorique smiled with confidence, “Do not underestimate my fountain of wisdom.”   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Grevil, Kujo, and Victorique entered the office. It was a normal office, with a desk in the middle of the room under piles of paper and books.   
Victorique scanned the room, searching for something she had already anticipated to be there. Kujo noticed this but could only guess as to what she was looking for.   
After walking around the room for a while, Victorique approached a painting.   
“Kujo, take this off of the wall for me will you?”   
Kujo complied.   
Victorique stared at the wall for a moment, before extending her hand and pushing a section of the wall to the side, revealing a dark tunnel.   
Victorique gave Grevil a smirk and said, “Searched it thoroughly, did you?”   
Grevil let out a cry of surprise but quickly composed himself.   
“Well, we didn’t consider this office a top priority for investigation; we never thought the walls would have anything to do with the murder.”   
“I’m sure.”   
Victorique strained her eyes in an attempt to see what was inside.   
“Grevil,” she said, “bring a light please.”   
When Grevil left to go get a lantern, Kujo turned to Victorique.   
“What do you think this tunnel is used for?”   
“I have not yet determined that, but it is quite suspicious that the head of the science academy would have such a tunnel in his office, no?”   
“For sure, I wonder if this is connected to the murder though.”   
“It might not be, but it’s the only lead we have, and quite a suspicious one at that.”   
Grevil returned with three of his men in tow, they were all carrying lanterns.   
“We have no way of knowing how big these tunnels are, so I thought I would grab some extra help,” he said.   
“Good thinking, Grevil,” said Victorique.   
The two siblings were finally starting to acknowledge the other’s abilities.   
Kujo, Victorique, Grevil, and his men all entered the tunnel. Victorique could stand up easily in the tunnel, but all of the men had to bow their heads slightly in order to fit.   
The tunnel faced east, and had many branching paths. It was pitch black, illuminated only by the meager light provided by the lanterns. The floor and walls were dirt, and the entire structure was held up by makeshift wooden arches placed periodically along the tunnel. The main tunnel stayed mostly straight, but did meander a bit here and there. The branching paths eventually disappeared and there was only a long, dark tunnel ahead of them.   
Grevil ordered his men to explore all of the branching paths, of which there were around twenty. Grevil, Kujo, and Victorique continued down the main path. They walked for a time until they reached a door, sunlight could be seen through its cracks.   
Their side of the door was held shut by a wooden bar, but as soon as Grevil removed it the door could easily be pushed open.   
They exited the tunnel and found themselves in one of Saubreme’s many alleys. The door was connected to a building, an unsuspicious building that looked like many of the buildings in Saubreme.   
The alley was just like any other alley, and one of Saubreme’s residential streets could be seen not far away.   
“Ju-Just what is this tunnel for?!” said Grevil in surprise.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kujo, Victorique, and Grevil returned to Celice’s office by way of the dark tunnel. Grevil’s men had returned to the office having completed their investigation of the side paths.   
When Grevil asked his men for a report on what they discovered in the tunnels, they told him that they all ended in various positions in the palace, and some even led to areas outside the palace.   
One of the men mentioned a particularly interesting detail.   
“When I reached the end of the tunnel, I removed what appeared to be a stone panel and suddenly found myself at the crime scene. The guards nearly shot my face off when I suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Pretty damning evidence that this tunnel has something to do with the murder I think.”   
It seems that the tunnel led to various locations inside and outside the palace, with the main path leading to an alley in Saubreme well away from the palace.   
Victorique stood there silently, calculating.   
Kujo was watching her the entire time, but she did not seem to notice. Kujo always liked to watch Victorique solve a problem; he could almost see the fragments of chaos arranging themselves in her mind.   
Victorique spoke up, “It’s obviously an escape tunnel.”   
Grevil looked at her, “Explain, if you would.”   
Victorique placed her pipe in her mouth, as if formulating her final hypothesis and how to present it.   
She continued, “It has always been common practice to give people of high power and status a way to escape from whatever danger might be present. This palace is old, hundreds of years old. It’s possible that this tunnel was placed here years ago in the office of the head of the Science Academy to allow them an escape route. As we all know, The Ministry of the Occult has historically had more political power than the Science Academy ever since Sauville’s founding, due to superstitions of old. And not only did the Occult have more power, they were also trusted. Until recently, within the last 40 or 50 years, the Science Academy was seen as untrustworthy, no one believed in science and everyone trusted the Occult. This is partly thanks to Sauville’s rich assortment of ghost stories and fairy tales. I’m sure many attempts have been made on the lives of all heads of the Science Academy, it is only natural that such a person would have a means of escape.”   
“But that has changed, the Science Academy holds more power than the Occult by far,” said Grevil.   
“That doesn’t mean that the escape tunnel would have been demolished, even with the majority of the power, someone as important as the head of the Science Academy is a target for assassination. As has been proven with this latest murder.”   
“Do you think Celice knew of the tunnel? Placing a route in and out of the palace covertly is treasonous,” said Grevil.   
“Sauville’s government gives all its departments some autonomy. The Science Academy, while still loyal to Sauville’s government, probably built this tunnel years ago in order to protect their people, and have known about it since but not said anything,” said Victorique, “But that’s beside the point, go report this tunnel thing to your superiors, Grevil, and they can fire whoever they wish for this act of treason, but that’s not what’s important about the tunnel, one of the side paths goes directly to the crime scene, so I think it’s pretty obvious how the body got there.”  
Nobody said anything, waiting for her to explain. Kujo and Grevil were scratching their heads.  
Victorique scoffed at their confusion, “The assassin probably told Celice that there was a threat against his life, and told him to escape through the tunnel. Once in the tunnels, the assassin sliced Celice’s throat with a knife and deposited the body at the crime scene using one of the side tunnels, waiting until no one was around to throw the body into the hallway. I don’t know why he would do that instead of leave the body in the tunnel, perhaps as a warning to the rest of the Science Academy? To prove to whomever he works for that the job is done? That is something I cannot determine. However, from this information we can deduce that the assassin works for someone who is against the Science Academy, possibly the Occult, but I doubt it. We can also deduce that the assassin has close ties to the Science Academy, otherwise Celice would not have trusted him when told to escape through the tunnel. After the assassin deposited the body, he returned the way he came and left through the office door.”   
Everyone was silent, awestruck at Victorique’s deduction skills.   
Grevil cleared his throat, “This all means that we must begin a search for the man Chuquet described and look into people who fit his description and have ties to the Science Academy. I’ll also order a full investigation of both the Science Academy and the Ministry of the Occult. Until we find the assassin, or any other information on him, I don’t see what else we can investigate, do you?” he said to Victorique.   
Victorique thought for a moment and then shook her head. She had reconstructed all of the chaos that she could.   
“Very well. Thank you for your help today. You have shown us more than we were able to discover in two weeks. I thank you for that. We will continue investigating, and we’ll let you know if we find anything. Of course, you two are free to investigate on your own if you wish,” said Grevil, “In fact, let me give you this.”   
Grevil handed Victorique a card. The card read “City of Saubreme Police Department Guest Detective’s Badge.”   
“That card will let any police officer know that you are a visiting detective working for us, if you wish to enter a crime scene or anywhere we have a search warrant for, show the guards that card and they will let you in,” said Grevil.   
“Thank you,” said Victorique, “We will probably do some investigating on our own.”   
“Well, I have investigations to do, stop by my office if you need anything. And hey, we ought to get dinner or something before you guys leave,” said Grevil with a slight smile.   
Victorique’s emerald eyes filled with joy, “Absolutely!” she said.   
Kujo smiled. He was glad that Grevil and Victorique were getting along again.   
Kujo and Victorique said their goodbyes to Grevil and left the royal palace for the day.


	9. Chapter 9

Victorique awoke.   
Another day.   
Kujo was up, as he always was.   
Victorique yawned as she slowly forced herself to sit up; she squinted at the bright sunlight entering the room. She finished her yawn and looked around the room, searching for Kujo.   
After a quick search around the hotel, Victorique realized that Kujo was gone. He probably went out to get something.   
Victorique took a look at the calendar the hotel had placed on the kitchen wall.   
This was their fifth day of being in Sauville. And what a lively few days, with seeing the academy and the murder case and all.   
After all the commotion, Victorique almost wanted to take it easy today. It would be nice for her and Kujo to spend the day relaxing.   
Then again, Sauville is a long way from Japan, and Victorique didn’t want to waste any of the time they had here, who knows how long it would be before their return.   
Victorique also didn’t know how much time Grevil’s case would take out of their honeymoon. Victorique and Kujo didn’t exactly mind solving cases, both of them found it fun as they had solved so many during their time at the academy, but they still wanted some time to themselves during their honeymoon.   
Time to themselves.   
“That’s what we’ll do today,” thought Victorique, “Today we won’t worry about the case at all. Grevil can handle himself just fine.”   
She wasn’t sure what they would do, but Victorique wanted to spend some quality time with Kujo.   
Soon the door opened, Kujo emerged carrying a bag full of items.   
“I got up early as usual, so I thought I would go grab some food for our kitchen,” he said.   
Victorique’s eyes widened in excitement at the mention of food.   
“WHAT DID YOU GET?!” she said excitedly as she ran towards the densely packed bag.   
“Nothing special,” said Kujo, “Just some stuff for cooking.”   
Inside the bag was an assortment of various types of food. Fruit, vegetables, bread, everything they would need to cook for themselves while they were here.   
Victorique’s attention was directed towards a small box she found within the bag.   
Noticing this, Kujo pulled it out and handed it to her.   
“Of course, I couldn’t very well go out to buy things and not bring back a present for you,” he said as he handed her the box.   
Victorique smiled, this reminded her of their academy days.   
She opened the box and found a wolf shaped object inside.   
She pulled it out and turned it in her hands, trying to get a better look at it.   
It was gray, soft to the touch, and light in weight. Victorique turned it towards her to get a look at its face.   
She let out a cry of delight as she realized what it was.   
It was a wolf stuffed animal.  
Victorique gave the wolf a hug and turned to Kujo, “I love it!” she said as she pulled him into the hug.   
Victorique had a soft spot for cute things.   
“I’m glad!” said Kujo, “You’re a gray wolf too, after all.”   
It was a little cheesy, but Victorique gave her husband another hug. He was so thoughtful.  
After giving Kujo a few more hugs and running around the room with the wolf in excitement, Victorique suddenly stopped.   
“What should I name him?! He needs a name!”   
Kujo just shrugged, smiling from Victorique’s antics.   
Victorique thought for a moment, placing her pipe in her mouth to help her think.   
“Sherlock! That’s the perfect name! A great detective like myself certainly needs an assistant! Especially from the greatest detective in literature!”   
Kujo did not expect Victorique to get this excited.   
“IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE AN ASSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANT!”   
Victorique badly sang this over and over as she ran around the room with Sherlock, spinning in circles.   
After awhile, Victorique finally calmed down and threw herself into Kujo’s arms.   
“This is perfect,” she said as she raised her head to meet his.   
Victorique stood on the tips of her toes and their lips met. She felt an electrifying rush of joy at Kujo’s touch. Moments like this made her realize just how much she loved him.   
After a time, their lips parted and they stared into each other’s eyes. Neither had any idea how much time had passed before they finally let go.   
Victorique, still clutching Sherlock, finally said, “You are the greatest gift giver ever.”   
Kujo laughed, “It’s something I take pride in.”   
Victorique placed Sherlock on the bed and turned to Kujo.   
“He’ll be an excellent assistant. I’m sure with Sherlock I’ll easily be able to solve Grevil’s case. Shows what good you are,” she teased.   
Kujo smiled, stroked Victorique’s hair and said, “I’m glad you like it.”   
After a few moments, Kujo continued, “So what do you want to do today? Should we investigate Grevil’s case some more?”   
Victorique sat on the bed, swinging her legs in excitement, “Actually, I thought we could save that for tomorrow. I feel like spending today with you.”   
Kujo sat next to her, “That’s fine by me.”   
They hadn’t really made any definite plans for their honeymoon besides visiting the academy and some of their old friends and family, so if they were going to spend a day together, without visiting anyone else, they would have to think things up as they went.   
“Let’s go into town!” said Victorique, “Let’s see what we can find!”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kujo and Victorique left the hotel and entered Saubreme’s busy streets. They didn’t know exactly where they wanted to go, so they simply started walking. Victorique even chose a shorter, simpler dress to wear to make it easier to walk.   
The dress was simple, like something a common town girl might wear. The dress only went to down to her knees, rather than all the way to her ankles. Victorique also wore high stockings to avoid showing too much skin, complete with not so high heeled shoes, to help with walking.   
Kujo was used to Victorique’s noble, extravagant dresses. Having worn them all her life, Victorique continued to wear lavish and complicated clothing very much like what she had worn when she and Kujo met. While Kujo liked Victorique’s complicated style, he thought her simpler attire was a nice change.   
The hotel was not far from the ocean, and so eventually Kujo and Victorique found themselves there.   
They spent some time walking down the beach. They looked for seashells, chased waves, and did what any newly married couple might do at the beach.   
Their walk down the beach brought back a memory.  
“This reminds me of Japan, when you got back from the war,” said Victorique.   
“Oh? How so?” asked Kujo.   
“Don’t you remember? The night after you returned from the war, we walked down a beach very much like this one, seemingly endless, beautiful, and simply perfect. Although I guess it was nighttime and there was significantly less city.”   
Kujo thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered.   
“Oh yeah! That was a fun night.”   
Victorique sighed. How could it take him so long to remember such a significant day? Kujo could be so dense sometimes.   
Victorique remembered it perfectly.   
Kujo had just returned from the war. It was the day after their reunion, and Victorique and Kujo were absolutely inseparable.   
After everyone else had gone to sleep, Victorique and Kujo decided to get some time alone together.   
That night the moon was full, and in its light everything had a faint glow.   
They walked down a beach near Kujo’s family home. The beach went on for miles, and seemed endless.   
They walked hand in hand, unable to let go for even a moment after their long separation.   
Victorique remembered feeling fairly nervous that day. She had no idea why, she was almost never nervous around Kujo.   
She now knew exactly why, for it was that night that Kujo confessed his love for her.   
She could almost feel it. As if everything was trying to tell her something. The moon, the waves, her nervous, quivering body.   
Everything about that night told Victorique that this was the night that their feelings for each other would come out in words.   
Both had always known that they loved the other, but there is a special power in voicing that love for the first time. It is like a bursting dam, allowing a river of feelings to flow freely.   
Victorique was just recalling the specifics of how Kujo confessed his love to her when she heard a voice.   
“Victorique!”   
Kujo was waving his hands in front of her face.   
“Is anyone home?”   
Victorique returned to the present.   
“Yeah, yeah. I was just remembering that day.”   
“What day?”   
Victorique looked at him in astonishment.   
“The day we were just talking about.”   
Kujo just looked at her with a stupid smile on his face.   
Victorique sighed again, placed her hand on his head and said, “I wonder about you sometimes.”   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They eventually left the beach and started to walk back towards the city.   
Kujo and Victorique spent the day exploring Saubreme, visiting various shops and marketplaces.   
They later returned to their hotel to make dinner with some of the food Kujo had bought earlier.   
Neither of the two was very good at cooking, but they both tried their best and made an acceptable meal to end their long, stimulating day.   
After they ate, Victorique spent some time lounging on a couch, reading a book they bought at a store that day with Sherlock at her side.   
She spent a long while reading her book. It was about Japanese history. She figured that now that she lived in Japan, she ought to know more than just the language. She was determined to know everything there was to know about Japan, it would certainly help with conversation at Kujo’s parent’s house once she finally mastered the language.   
The many stories of samurai, emperors, and war fascinated Victorique. She wasn’t sure why, but Japan’s earlier periods of history particularly interested her, such as the Asuka and Nara periods.   
She eventually felt her eyes drooping and put her book away.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kujo walked into the room.   
“Victorique, what do you-?”  
He stopped himself to avoid disturbing the gray wolf that lay before him. Victorique had fallen asleep, her hand placed on a book of Japanese history and her body spread clumsily on the couch, arms in all directions.   
Kujo knew that she would be upset if he awoke her from her sleep, so Kujo quietly made his way to her.   
Victorique was already wearing her kimono, so Kujo didn’t see any point in waking her. He gently picked her up and carried her to the bed. Victorique, as always, was as light as a feather.   
He put the blankets over Victorique, gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned out the light.   
Just as he was about to climb into bed himself, he stopped. He walked across the room and grabbed Sherlock, who was still sitting on the couch. He took Sherlock and placed him on the bed next to Victorique.   
He smiled at his handiwork and continued to climb into bed himself. Victorique stirred as he got in, but did not awake.   
Kujo smiled, put his arm gently around Victorique’s waist, and slowly drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Victorique was surprised to find Kujo next to her when she awoke. Generally, Kujo got up early, so this was a really nice surprise.   
Kujo was next to her, fast asleep and holding Victorique in a tight embrace. Looking at the clock on the wall, it was nearly 9. Kujo had overslept.   
Victorique freed herself from Kujo’s grip and turned to face him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. She didn’t want to disturb him, but Victorique knew that Kujo would want to be woken up. He was sure to be alarmed when he found out he had slept past 8!   
“Kujo,” she said as she gently shook him.   
Kujo stirred and slowly forced open his eyes.   
“Victorique?” he said groggily, “How early is it? Why are you already up?”   
Victorique let out a short noise of amusement.   
“It’s almost 9. You overslept.”   
“No way,” said Kujo as he sat up.   
He then saw the clock. His arms went limp as his eyes widened in surprise.   
Victorique couldn’t help laughing.   
“I slept till 9?!” he shouted, “Think of all the stuff I could have gotten done!”   
Victorique fell back on the bed, laughing uncontrollably.   
A time passed as Victorique finished laughing and Kujo recovered from his confusion.   
Victorique got a hold of herself and draped her arms over Kujo’s shoulders.   
“You should sleep in more often; it was really nice waking up with you at my side,” she said, “Maybe I ought to drug your dinner with sleeping pills!”   
Kujo sighed. He then suddenly looked at Victorique as if he had realized something.   
“Victorique! Did you put sleeping pills in my food last night?!”   
Victorique giggled.   
“No, but perhaps I should from now on.”   
Kujo sighed in defeat.   
Victorique suddenly jumped at Kujo, taking him by surprise. Kujo found that their lips were pressed together. He was initially surprised but quickly accepted it and pulled Victorique closer to him.   
Victorique had changed a bit since their marriage, Kujo realized. While she was often her collected and reserved self around others, there were times when Victorique seemed to have no filter on her emotions like she usually did. She would get excited and spontaneous like she had been for the past few days, and almost seemed like a different person. But Kujo wasn’t complaining, he took this as a compliment. Victorique was happier and alive now that she and Kujo were married. He had fallen in love with the stoic and logical Victorique, but this new spontaneous and energetic Victorique was sure to win his heart every time. He supposed that this was the magic of being with a person who you truly love.   
Victorique pulled away and Kujo spoke up, “You’re quite energetic this morning.”   
Victorique thought for a moment, “Yes, I suppose I am. I guess I enjoyed our day yesterday so much that I’m just that excited to start today!”   
“Speaking of which,” said Kujo, “What should we do today?”   
“Well, we took yesterday off, so how about we investigate more of Grevil’s case?”   
“That’s fine by me, sounds fun.”   
Kujo and Victorique got dressed and ate breakfast. They went over the specifics of the case once more to refresh their memories before heading over to Grevil’s office at the Saubreme Police Headquarters.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They arrived at Grevil’s office to find the man pacing around the room with an unlit pipe in his hand. Victorique and Kujo didn’t think they needed to knock, so they barged right in.   
Grevil jumped in astonishment, sending the pipe tumbling to the ground. It hit the ground with a thud, followed by a long silence.   
Victorique finally spoke, “Grevil, why are you walking around the room brandishing a pipe? It seems somehow unlike you.”   
Grevil quickly picked up the pipe and cleared his throat.   
“You see, I was about to… Well… Smoke it! Yes! I was about to have a smoke!”   
“You were trying to imitate me weren’t you?”   
Grevil nearly dropped the pipe in surprise.  
“Preposterous! Who would think that brandishing an unlit pipe would help one’s thinking? The ridiculousness of the idea is astronomical!”   
“It does indeed help my thinking. But I highly doubt it would help yours at all. We all know you’re not a smoker, Grevil. Therefore you must have been trying to find out if using a pipe would make you a detective as great as your sister.”   
Grevil grumpily put the pipe on his desk and sat down, defeated.   
“If you’re so desperate as to try to imitate your little sister, then I presume you’ve reached some sort of wall in your investigation. Please, tell us what’s troubling you.” Victorique said with a triumphant smile.   
Grevil grumbled and sat up, embarrassed.   
“That’s just it. Ever since you helped us two days ago, we’ve come up with nothing. Nothing! The best police force in the country has come up with nothing!” Grevil complained.   
Victorique raised her pipe to her mouth and was silent, waiting on Grevil to continue.   
“We’ve searched the royal palace numerous times, explored the tunnels leading away from Celice’s office, and we have the entire city searching for a man who fits the description of Celice’s assassin. But we haven’t learned anything new.”   
Victorique remained silent.   
“That, my dear sister, is why I thought I would try the pipe thing. Desperate times call for desperate measures!”   
“I presume the pipe thing has yielded no results,” Victorique said with a smirk.   
“Well,” said Grevil, “I only just picked it up minutes before you walked in, so I guess I could still give it a try…”   
“That’s pointless.”   
“Well what do you suggest I do? Has my dear sister come to any conclusions of her own?”   
“I have not; I have reconstructed all of the available chaos.”   
“See? We aren’t getting anywh-”  
Victorique cut him off with a wave of her hand.  
“However, that doesn’t mean that we have no avenues of investigation.”   
“What do you mean?” asked a confused Grevil.   
“As I said earlier, we know that the assassin has some link to the Science Academy, if he didn’t, Celice would not have trusted him before he was murdered. We also know that the assassin is opposed to the Science Academy, and while I doubt the Ministry of the Occult is involved, it is still a possibility. And if the assassin is not affiliated with the Occult, there are plenty of other organizations around that are not exactly friendly towards the Science Academy.”   
Grevil sat in his office chair, scratching his head.   
Victorique turned to him, “With this knowledge in mind, what are our possible plans of attack?”   
She asked the question as if she were lecturing a schoolboy.   
After a few moments of intense thinking, Grevil finally said, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to investigate what’s left of the Occult, ask them if they’ve seen the assassin.”  
He trailed off, trying to think of something else.   
“And?” Victorique pressed.   
“Maybe they know of some of these organizations who are against the Science Academy.”   
Victorique placed her hands on her hips and gave him a grin.   
“Very good.”   
Kujo was astonished. The head of all of Sauville’s police activities was being lectured like a child by his little sister. Kujo supposed that this was a fitting role for Victorique to take.   
Victorique took Kujo’s hand and led him towards the door.   
“I’m sure you have plenty of work to do, with being the head of the Sauville Police and all, so Kujo and I will go and investigate the Occult. See you later, inspector.”   
Victorique pulled Kujo out the door without further comment. Grevil sat at his desk, utterly defeated.  
Victorique pulled Kujo along triumphantly. Kujo couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the perverse pleasure she got out of besting Grevil.   
While Victorique had changed a bit since their marriage, she was still Victorique from head to toe.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kujo and Victorique walked from the police station to Saubreme’s royal palace. At the entrance, Victorique flashed her Guest Detective’s badge that Grevil had given her and they were in.   
Kujo and Victorique walked the palace’s extravagant halls as they made their way to the Ministry of the Occult’s main offices.   
“I’ll bet you never thought you’d be walking the royal palace’s halls someday when you came here as a transfer student, did you?” Victorique asked Kujo.   
“That’s true,” replied Kujo.   
“I suppose that’s one of the perks of being married to not only a noble, but to such a gifted detective,” said Victorique as she stretched her free arm in self-praise.   
“I suppose so, but that’s not why I married you.”   
“Oh? So why did you then?”   
“Hmm. Lots of reasons I suppose. Your laugh, your personality, your eyes. Do I need a reason really?”   
Victorique smiled and tightened her grip on his hand, “No, those reasons will do just fine.”   
Soon they arrived at the Occult offices.   
The Occult offices were eerily empty. It was obvious that this had once been an organization of great power, now reduced to a fraction of its former size and influence. It seems that the Occult’s attempted takeover of the country really hit them hard.   
Sitting at the front desk was a lone woman. She was studiously writing in a book, supposedly taking care of Occult business.   
She looked up and noticed Kujo and Victorique, and addressed them with a bored, “Hello.”   
“Hello,” said Kujo in reply, “We were wondering if we might talk to someone about something.”   
The woman returned to her work, seemingly uninterested.   
“Who exactly would you like to talk to? It’s not like the Occult gets many visitors these days.”   
“Perhaps, someone in charge?”   
The woman looked up again, “I suppose the person in charge now would have to be Jean Luc Moitessier. But he’s nothing more than an office worker really. The truth is, the Occult doesn’t really have anyone in charge anymore, the government simply keeps us around as a formality ever since the Duke de Blois tried to take over the country,” she paused and looked at Victorique, “You bear a strange resemblance to him.”   
“I’m his daughter, actually,” said Victorique.   
“Is that so? Sorry about his passing.”  
The woman returned to her work, uninterested in the conversation.   
“And this Montessier is where exactly?” asked Kujo.   
“In the back.” The woman pointed behind her.   
They thanked the bored woman and continued through a door leading deeper into the offices.   
They were greeted by a dark, open space. It was filled with empty desks and littered with stacks of paper. The only hint of life was the lit window of an office near the back of the room.   
“The Occult’s really gone downhill, it seems,” said Kujo.   
“It would appear that this Jean Luc Moitessier and the bored woman at the desk are the only workers,” replied Victorique.   
“She wasn’t lying when she said the government only keeps them around as a formality.”   
They approached the office with the lit window. The sign on the door read, “Jean Luc Moitessier: Ministry of the Occult Head of Operations.”   
Victorique knocked and they heard a tired, “Enter.”   
They opened the door and were greeted by an elderly man.   
“Hello, please sit. We don’t get many visitors anymore,” he said.   
Victorique and Kujo sat on the two available armchairs.   
“I’ve almost forgotten to introduce myself, I’m Jean Luc Moitessier, head of the Ministry of the Occult. How can I help?”   
“I’m Victorique Kujo and this is my husband Kujo Kazuya. I’m formerly from the de Blois family,” said Victorique.   
“de Blois?” said Moitessier in surprise, “You’re not the daughter of the late Albert de Blois are you?”   
“I am, in fact. Although I can’t say I’m terribly saddened by my father’s passing.”   
“I suppose that makes sense, considering what he tried to do. I didn’t really know the man myself, but there’s no denying the evil that dwelled in his heart.”   
“Didn’t know him?” Victorique echoed in questioning, “How could you not have known him when you are now the head of the Occult?”   
Moitessier sighed, “Well, the truth is I only worked for the Occult in my younger days. I was retired when your father tried to take over the country. He rose to power long after I was gone. After the war, the government dissolved the Occult to its bones and only left it barely alive for the sake of its cultural and historical significance. I know the king, his majesty Rupert de Gilet personally and he asked me to step in as the Occult’s figurehead, given my prior experience with the organization. But that’s all I am really, a figurehead. It’s just me and Nina now, making sure what little Occult business exists is taken care of for the sake of Sauville’s history.”   
“Nina?” asked Victorique.  
“The woman at the front desk.”   
“I see. I knew that the Occult was a shadow of its former self, but I did not anticipate the government to strip it down to this, this may prove problematic in our investigation...”   
Victorique placed her hand on her chin and looked to the side in thought.   
“Investigation?” asked Moitessier, “Is there something regarding this investigation that we can help you with?”   
Victorique turned back towards Moitessier, “It’s why we’re here. Surely you’ve heard of the recent assassination of Alban Celice?”   
“Why yes. Such a shame. We talked on occasion before his death,” replied Moitessier in dismay.   
“That’s what we’re investigating. We concluded that Celice’s assassin had some link to the Science Academy, and is probably in league with an organization that has something against the Academy-.”  
“You don’t think we’re involved do you?” Moitessier interrupted.   
“It’s a possibility, but based on the state of this office I highly doubt it,” said Victorique, “We are simply here because we thought that perhaps the Ministry of the Occult knew something of anti-Science Academy organizations.”   
“I see,” said Moitessier with a sigh of relief, “You have no idea how many people have accused us of wrongdoing since the war.”   
“I suppose that’s only natural.”   
“I’m not sure how much I can help,” Moitessier continued, “Considering that I’ve been away from the occult for years until now, my knowledge of such organizations is limited. But I do know that the Occult has always had countless allies in its political battles against the Science Academy, it’s possible that your assassin belongs to one of these organizations. When the Occult was effectively shut down, hatred for the Science Academy did not go away, and there are still many underground organizations that mean to do it harm.”   
“What relation did these underground organizations have to the Occult?” asked Kujo.   
“Well, they often served the Occult in various ways. Some of them were even started by the Occult itself. They would carry out assassinations, handle certain economic interests, that sort of thing. A lot of them did the Occult’s dirty work so the main Occult organization did not get caught trying to assassinate the competition. Both the Science Academy and the Occult have done this for centuries. Politics are a nasty business.”  
“We’ve seen examples of such organizations, Kujo,” said Victorique.   
“What do you mean?” asked Kujo.   
“Do you remember when we were on the train returning from Phantasmagoria at Beelzebub’s Skull? Do you remember the masquerade we found ourselves caught up in?”   
Kujo thought for a moment.   
“Ah yes! When we were playing that raisin game and people kept claiming to be knights and scarecrows or whatever.”   
“Yes. It was a deadly game that members of the Occult and Science Academy were playing in order to gain control of Jupiter Roget’s box of bequest, and using the contents they would prove Roget a Gray Wolf and a traitor to the king. Although I do not think that the players in that game were necessarily members of the Occult and Science Academy themselves, but rather of these other organizations that Moitessier mentioned.”   
“I don’t know what you’re talking about exactly, but based on what I’m hearing your deductions are probably correct,” interjected Moitessier, “Both organizations have often used their allied underground organizations to complete such tasks, for if members of the main organization were found out, it would be too controversial. If a member of this side organization was caught, the Science Academy or the Ministry of the Occult could simply write those caught off as extremists.”  
“And we have come to find a list of such organizations involved with the Occult. Have you such a list, Monsieur Moitessier?”   
“I do not, but Nina might. She’s been the Occult’s secretary for going on ten years now, she would probably know where to find such a list. Tell her what you told me, and she will help you find it.”  
They thanked Moitessier and went back to the front desk. They explained to Nina what they were looking for and she motioned for them to follow.   
They walked down a dark hallway, one that perhaps hadn’t seen people walk through it in years.  
“The information that you’re looking for is old, and also top secret. The Occult has been effectively shut down since the Duke de Blois was killed, and even when it was active the Occult kept any information regarding its less than legal activities under lock and key. Normally, this kind of thing would be very hard to find. Luckily, you have a secretary with ten years of experience on your side, and I learned a thing or two about where they like to hide things during my time here,” said Nina.   
They walked in silence for a while until they reached a door with a sign that read, “Office of Albert de Blois.”   
“His office hasn’t been touched since he was killed, nobody wanted to deal with his stuff.”   
She pushed open the door and they entered. The office was clean, and didn’t seem like it stored anything of value.   
Kujo looked around the surprisingly normal office. It occurred to him that it was from here the duke had planned everything that would lead to his near takeover of Sauville. It made Kujo angry knowing that the duke used Victorique to put many of those plans into action.   
Victorique touched Kujo’s arm and he returned to reality. Thinking of what the duke did to Victorique made Kujo so angry he almost forgot where he was.   
“Kujo, look,” said Victorique.   
She pointed to a drawer with a keyhole on the duke’s desk.   
“I’ll bet you anything that’s where it is.”   
Nina produced a key from her pocket.   
“I think you’re right, no one would have dared to mess with the duke’s desk while he was alive. The duke had too much power, getting on his bad side meant almost certain termination from one’s position as a member of the Occult. That makes this office a perfect place to hide something like the list we’re looking for.”   
Nina opened the drawer and inside was a stack of paper. She looked at the papers, some were seemingly unimportant documents, while others seemed to be of more value. Nina pocketed these for later investigation.   
Nina continued to search until she found what seemed like any other piece of paper. On it was a list of names and addresses.   
“I believe this is what you were looking for,” she said as she handed Victorique the paper.   
Victorique read the names aloud.   
“Sauville’s Hand, The Wings of Righteousness, Incertitude. These are strange names.”   
“Well, the names had to be discreet,” said Nina, “It’s not like these organizations would name themselves ‘Ministry of the Occult Puppet Organization #4’ that’d be too obvious.”   
Victorique nodded in understanding and continued reading.  
“The Runners, Perpetuation, Warriors of the Monstre Charmant.”   
Victorique stopped.   
“Warriors of the Monstre Charmant? Who are they?”   
“If I had to guess, probably Monstre Charmant worshippers. There were plenty of those around before the war, when your father tried to take power. He used their crazed obsession with the Monstre Charmant story and tried to get all of Sauville to follow him when they realized that he had you, the Monstre Charmant, on his side.”   
“Yes, I know what he tried to do,” said Victorique, “Could any of these organizations still be around?”   
“Oh yes. In fact many of them are,” said Nina, “Even though the government shut down the Ministry of the Occult, it still lives on in these puppet organizations. Some of them are harmless and only try to preserve the Occult’s cultural impact on Sauville, but others are quite militant and have been trying to reestablish the Occult’s influence since the end of the war.”   
“May I take this list?”   
“Yes, so long as you return it.”   
“Thank you, I believe we found a new lead in our investigation. We are grateful for your help.”   
“Anytime. Jean Luc and I will be here to help if you need anything.”   
They said goodbye to Nina and left the offices.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Victorique and Kujo sat near the Occult offices in a lounge, resting on some couches while Victorique studied the list.   
Kujo waited while Victorique thought. He knew that at times like these it was best not to bother her so that she could think.   
After a few minutes Victorique spoke, “I can’t say for sure, but I think this ‘Warriors of the Monstre Charmant’ is the organization we’re looking for.”   
“Why do you think so?” asked Kujo.   
“Well, many of the names are quite mysterious. Names like ‘The Wings of Righteousness’ and ‘Incertitude’ don’t tell you much about what the organization’s purpose might be, but ‘Warriors of the Monstre Charmant’ is obvious. I can’t shake the feeling that this is where we should look.”   
“Some of these organizations might not exist anymore,” said Kujo, “Furthermore, visiting some could be dangerous, we don’t know what they might do if we show up with the police!”   
Victorique suddenly looked at Kujo as if he had given her an idea.   
“That’s exactly what we won’t do, Kujo,” she said.  
“Huh?” he asked in confusion.   
“I’ll bet you anything that the Warriors of the Monstre Charmant are a cult that still worships the Monstre Charmant even after the war. Possibly a militant one, hence the word ‘Warriors’. They certainly wouldn’t take too kindly to the police showing up on their doorstep, so we go in pretending to be seeking membership in the cult, and they won’t suspect a thing.”   
“Victorique. You are the Monstre Charmant that they worship. There’s no telling what would happen if they found out!”   
“We’ll take every precaution. Plus, we’ll talk to Grevil first. He can have the police waiting outside just in case.”   
Kujo crossed his arms and grumbled.   
“I still don’t like it, it’s an unnecessary risk.”   
“I think it’s the only way we’ll solve this case. We owe it to Grevil to help him solve this. Without his kindness during the war, we never would have been reunited. It’s the least we can do.”   
Kujo sat there pondering for a moment. It was obvious that he did not want to go through with it.   
Victorique turned to Kujo and grabbed his hand.   
“I know you’re worried. But I need to do this. I can’t leave a case unsolved, no matter how dangerous, and I want to help my brother. But I can’t do it without you. You’re my assistant, my partner in crime. You always have been since the day we met. Will you do this with me?”   
Kujo turned to look at Victorique. She was holding his hand and looking deep into his eyes with an almost pleading expression. He couldn’t turn her down.   
“I’ll do it.”   
Victorique hugged Kujo and whispered into his ear, “Thank you.”   
Kujo placed his arm on Victorique’s back.   
“If we’re to do this, we need to talk to Grevil. Shall we go now, or later?”   
“Now,” Victorique said, “Might as well.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Absolutely not!”   
Grevil paced around his office in frustration. Victorique and Kujo sat in front of him.   
“I will not allow my sister to enter a potentially dangerous situation without first sending a squad to investigate!”   
“What you fail to understand, Grevil, is that my going into this potentially dangerous situation is not up to you, I’m simply telling you what’s going to happen,” said Victorique.   
“You can’t! You’re putting yourself in unnecessary danger!”   
“It’s the only way to solve the case.”   
Grevil was flabbergasted. He pointed at Kujo.   
“You! Baby Squirrel! Are you letting her go through with this?!”   
“Inspector,” said Kujo, “When Victorique wants to do something, she’s doing it. I am going with her to help her solve this case.”  
Grevil threw up his hands in frustration. He sat down at his desk and placed his hands on his temples.   
After a time, he continued.   
“If you absolutely insist, I will send backup with you. But you have to promise me you’ll take every possible precaution.”   
“We will. Kujo and I already have the whole thing planned out,” said Victorique.  
“You do? Would you care to enlighten me?”   
“Kujo and I will knock on the door and ask for entrance into the cult. We’ll say something about how we wish to pay our respects to the Monstre Charmant or something. An organization like that would never turn down new members. Once inside, we will do our best to investigate what we can.”   
“You’re forgetting something. You are the Monstre Charmant, Victorique! They probably have statues and paintings of you all over the place! You’d be recognized instantly!”   
“We have that covered as well. I will dress in a hooded robe in order to hide my identity. I will also cut my hair short and dye it brown. If I cut and dye my hair, the fundamental characteristics of the Monstre Charmant will no longer be apparent. All of the stories describe the Monstre Charmant as having long, blonde hair. Without those, none will be the wiser.”   
“I suppose that could work,” Grevil grumbled with uncertainty, “Are you sure you want to go through all of that effort to investigate what might be a false lead? We don’t know for sure if these are the people we’re looking for.”   
“The cosmetic changes required are only temporary. My hair will return to its long, blonde state given time. Besides, my fountain of wisdom is telling me that this is what we must do, and my fountain of wisdom is seldom mistaken.”   
Grevil sat there for a moment, hands clasped under his chin in a pose of intense consideration.   
He finally let out a sigh.   
“It seems that I cannot dissuade you, so I will do everything in my power to aid you in this endeavor. On one condition!”   
Grevil suddenly sat up and brought his face just inches from Victorique’s. His eyes stared directly into hers, the very picture of seriousness.   
“You are not allowed to die on me.”   
Victorique’s eyes widened at this statement. It was true that she and Grevil had started to rekindle their relationship as siblings, but hearing Grevil say something like this was unexpected to say the least.   
“Evil as he was, I’ve already lost a father. I don’t want to lose anyone else. The same goes for you, Baby Squirrel.”   
Grevil regarded Kujo with a friendly smile as he said this.   
“Be that as it may, we don’t know if these people are hostile, so I don’t think you have to worry about either of us dying Grevil,” said Victorique, “Besides, if they become hostile, I will reveal myself as the Monstre Charmant as a last resort. They would not dare harm their god and her heart.”   
“It’s true that we don’t know for a fact whether they’re hostile or not, but I’ve dealt with groups like this before. The police force has practically been at war with Monstre Charmant worshippers ever since the war. Many of them still want to overthrow the government and are extremely hostile as a result. That’s why I’m asking you to be careful.”  
“We will exercise extreme caution, I assure you.”   
Grevil looked to the side in thought, considering whether he should take a certain action. He reached under his desk and pulled out two pistols, placing them on the desk.  
“Here, take these. Just in case.”   
Victorique stared at the pistols on the desk in astonishment. Her eyes wide with surprise.   
“You should both know how to handle one, correct? Kujo’s been in the Japanese military and I’ve heard stories of how you and Kujo disabled a bomb from great distance using a pistol, when you were on that train. It’s just a precaution, but I highly recommend you take them.”   
It was silent for a moment until Victorique spoke up.   
“I- I’m not sure if that will be necessary. I’d rather not shoot anyone if we can help it. And what if they search us or something and find the weapons? That won’t make them happy.”   
“If they search you, tell them you are armed and hand the guns over. If you are up front about it, there’s no reason for them to get mad, especially when they are so desperate for new cult members. And if they don’t search you, then you have a method of self defense. It’s up to you, I’m not going to force you to take them, but I think it would be wise to do so.”   
Kujo picked up one of the guns and hid it in his coat pocket. Victorique looked at him with surprise.   
“We should take them, Victorique,” he said, “I am. We should be able to defend ourselves.”  
Victorique looked at the remaining pistol on the desk and picked it up uncertainly.   
“Kujo is more experienced with these than I. Do you have a shooting range where I might try it out?”   
“Certainly.” Grevil responded as he stood up to bring them there.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Grevil brought them to the shooting range where they practiced shooting for a time. Kujo did well, considering that he had been in the military, but Victorique needed more practice. She had wielded a gun before, but Kujo was far more adept than she.   
When Kujo had finished practicing he went to Victorique to see how she was doing. He found her carefully aiming her weapon at a target, her fierce and warrior like determination juxtaposed to her feminine clothing and presence.   
“You looked determined,” he said.   
Victorique lowered her gun.   
“Well, being a good shot might be the difference between life and death if it comes down to it,” she responded, “And besides, remember how I told you that I want to start a detective’s agency someday? If I’m to do that, I need to be proficient with a weapon.”   
Kujo did recall Victorique saying this. It was soon after Kujo had returned from the war, Kujo had already confessed his love for Victorique, which she accepted, and they later talked of their future together. Kujo did not know what he wanted to do, he thought he might work for the military or make use of his knowledge of the French language in some way, maybe as a translator, but he did not know for sure. Victorique however, knew for sure that she wanted to start a private detective’s agency. She knew that she could use her fountain of wisdom to its greatest potential by solving crimes for a living. Completing this goal was very important to her, it was second only to her commitment to Kujo. As such, Victorique was very determined to master the use of a weapon.   
Kujo looked at the target and noticed that Victorique had made many of her shots perfectly.   
“You’re doing very well, keep at it!” he said as he lovingly patted her head.   
Victorique nodded and went back to practicing.   
Kujo waited while Victorique practiced until she decided that she had practiced enough.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They left the shooting range and went outside. It was dark, they had been there for a while.   
“It’s late,” Victorique said, “Let’s go back to the hotel for today, we can investigate that cult tomorrow.”   
They went back inside to bid Grevil farewell and returned to the hotel.   
When they returned to the hotel, they cooked a simple dinner and later sat comfortably reading on the hotel’s living room couch. Victorique was comfortably reading her book on Japanese history, her head rested on Kujo’s lap.   
Kujo sat idly, not interested in reading. He was passively playing with Victorique’s golden hair.   
“I’m going to miss your hair,” he said, “I’ve always liked blonde hair.”   
“So will I, I mean I’ve had long, blonde hair for most of my life. It’s going to be strange changing that,” Victorique responded, “But it’s required to hide my identity.”   
“Still, I’m sure you’ll look great with brown hair.”   
Victorique smiled and reached up to give Kujo’s head a pat, “Thanks. I could probably shave it bald and you would say the same thing.”   
“I would.”   
“But you would rather I didn’t.”   
“Yeah.”  
Victorique laughed, “I don’t plan on doing that, so don’t worry.”   
There was a pause.   
“That reminds me Victorique, how short exactly do you plan on cutting it?”   
Victorique shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not too short. Maybe down to my shoulders.”   
“That’ll be a big change.”   
“Yeah. I plan on growing it back though. I like my hair the way it is.”   
“Come to think of it Victorique, do you think I should change my appearance in any way? I’m not exactly the Monstre Charmant, but it’s possible that some of these cult members might recognize me.”   
Victorique looked up at Kujo, pondering for a moment.   
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to cut your hair slightly, but I don’t think you have much to worry about. By the time the whole Monstre Charmant thing got completely out of hand, you were already out of the country.”   
“I’ll get it cut a little, just in case.”  
“It’s getting kind of long, after all,” Victorique teased.   
Kujo smiled and playfully ruffled her hair.   
They sat there for a few more minutes, Victorique reading her book and Kujo slowly stroking her hair.   
Kujo would idly stroke Victorique’s hair from time to time. It was an incredibly relaxing feeling for Victorique, feeling his hands run through her long, golden strands.   
Kujo’s strokes slowly brought Victorique closer and closer to sleep. She soon put her book down and simply lay there, letting his enticing movements push her further into the realm of sleep.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kujo awoke the following morning with Victorique at his side. She had fallen asleep on his lap and he had to carry her to bed. Remembering this, he looked to his side and saw Victorique sleeping peacefully. He sat for a moment, taking in her beauty before getting up and starting the day.   
Victorique awoke a few hours later and joined him at the kitchen table. Kujo was drinking coffee and had already made pancakes for her. Victorique accepted them graciously.   
When she finished, Victorique looked up at Kujo and said, “We’re going to do something potentially very dangerous today.”   
“You’re right. It will be very dangerous. Even so, I trust you and your fountain of wisdom.”   
Victorique smiled and placed her hand on top of his.   
“Thank you,” she replied, “You always have.”   
They stood there for a moment, her hand on top of his, eyes locked.   
Slowly, their lips met. It was a kiss of profound trust. Their kisses always were, but this one seemed different somehow. It was almost as if this was one of the last they would ever share.   
They parted, and stared into each other’s eyes once more. Victorique’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears, which she quickly wiped away.   
“Victorique. What’s wrong?” asked Kujo.   
She hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words, before she said, “I know that we don’t know exactly what we’re getting into, or how dangerous it will be, but I guess the reality of the situation just hit me. If this cult is in fact armed and dangerous, we don’t know what might happen. I can’t bear the thought of anything bad happening to you.”   
Kujo placed his hands on Victorique’s shoulders, trying to comfort her.  
“I know,” he said as he dipped his head forward to touch hers, “I’ve thought about that too. But that’s what Grevil’s for, right? If anything bad happens, he’ll come to rescue us, with Sauville’s finest police force at his back.”   
Victorique wiped away any remaining tears and nodded, pulling him into a tight embrace.   
“If you’d rather not go through with it, I’m sure Grevil would understand. In fact I’m sure he’d be pleased. I will follow you wholeheartedly into whatever decision you make,” said Kujo.   
“No,” said Victorique, still holding onto him, “We’ll go through with it. We owe Grevil that much. Besides, Grevil will stop at nothing to save either of us should anything happen. We’re the only family he has left.”   
They stood there for a while longer, enjoying the closeness of the embrace.   
Victorique pulled slightly away, looked into Kujo’s eyes, and kissed him once more. This time, the kiss brought feelings of tremendous joy and relief. It was different, and far more enjoyable than the last after what had been said.   
They spent more time in each other’s arms before leaving the hotel.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Before they could investigate the cult, Kujo and Victorique had to stop by the hairdresser.   
Kujo went first and got a simple haircut. He didn’t look much different, his normally longer hair was just above his eyes, as opposed to how they usually got in his eyes slightly, but he looked different enough that he might be hard to recognize for someone who had only seen him once or twice.   
Victorique though, being the Monstre Charmant, needed a more dramatic makeover. She asked her hair to be cut to shoulder length, and to have semi-permanent brown hair dye applied.   
The hairdresser seemed somewhat surprised at this request.   
“Are you sure you want this?” the hairdresser asked, “The brown hair dye will wash out after a few weeks, but your current hair length will not return for quite a while!”   
“Yes. That is what I want,” Victorique replied.   
The hairdresser shrugged and set off to work. She masterfully carved Victorique’s long hair, it falling to the floor in large swaths.   
Kujo got a glimpse of Victorique before she was taken to the back to get her hair dyed. It looked great, yet quite strange at its new length.   
Not long later, Victorique emerged from the hairdresser’s back room looking completely different. Kujo’s eyes widened in surprise at the change.   
Her shorter hair had been surprise enough, but seeing Victorique with brown hair was more surprising than Kujo had expected.   
Victorique was still her petite and logical self, but her now short, chestnut hair made her seem almost like a different person.   
Victorique looked in a mirror, was initially surprised by the change, but smiled as if accepting her new look.   
She bounced up to Kujo and twirled, “What do you think?”   
“Different. But beautiful,” Kujo replied with a laugh.   
“Likewise, Mr. Reaper,” she replied, referring to his haircut.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Having completed their transformations, Kujo and Victorique made their way to the police station. On the way, they picked up a robe for Victorique to wear. It was simple, brown, and hooded. Not exactly in style, but Victorique doubted the cult would care much what she was wearing. As long as it hid her face, they had a higher chance of not being discovered, so Victorique didn’t care how in or out of style it was.   
After buying the robe, they made their way to the police station and knocked on Grevil’s office door. He opened the door and motioned for them to come in.   
Victorique was already wearing the robe, so when she removed the hood, Grevil’s surprise was immediately apparent.   
“You look completely different! There’s no way the cult will recognize you!”   
Victorique nodded. “That is the point, after all.”   
Grevil motioned for them to sit and they did.   
“Before we go through with this, we need to talk specifics. We need to decide how exactly you two will conduct this investigation, and what my squad and I will do should anything go awry.”   
“As we discussed,” Victorique began, “Kujo and I will knock on the front door of the Warriors of the Monstre Charmant’s hideout, church, temple. Whatever you want to call it, and ask for entry into the cult. Kujo will explain that we were supporters of the Monstre Charmant during the war, but have suppressed our beliefs since the end of the war due to the fact that such beliefs are now unpopular. He will explain that we want to support and worship the Monstre Charmant in spite of Sauville’s view on the subject. Hopefully they will let us in after that.”   
“And once you’re inside?” Grevil questioned.   
“Once we’re inside we will try to investigate whatever leads we can. Given that we don’t know what awaits us inside, we cannot plan that far ahead. We will simply have to take part in whatever religious activities they are undertaking, so as not to draw suspicion, and we will gather information. That’s what this is really, gathering information. Reconnaissance you might say.”   
“And how will my squad and I know when to respond?”   
“You will wait in hiding at a position that gives you a good view of the building. Perhaps a rooftop or something similar. If you hear gunshots or anything like that, you and your squad will seize the building immediately.”   
Grevil furrowed his brow, “Well, it’s not a perfect plan, but we are dealing with limited information. Here’s my advice. There are a lot of problems with your plan, many things might go wrong. We don’t know if this cult has an underground portion of the building. If they do, we will not be able to hear gunshots or screaming. Also, the cult might confiscate your weapons, leaving you defenseless while my squad and I are none the wiser. We don’t even know if this ‘Warriors of the Monstre Charmant’ is even a cult. They could be a book club for all we know! The point is, this operation will probably be quite a dangerous one. I advise you to exercise caution. Don’t stay in there for longer than you have to. Get in, gather as much information as possible, and get out. If the cult accepts you, you can go in at a later date with a more concrete plan in mind. For now though, you’re going in blind, so be smart about it.”   
Victorique stared at Grevil for a moment, taking in the words he said and considering them with utmost care.   
“Certainly,” she said finally.   
Kujo was amazed at Grevil’s professionalism. Not long ago, Grevil was the incompetent detective who only got his position due to his father’s status. But the years had taught Grevil how to be a bonafide and trustworthy leader of a police force. It was an understatement to say that Kujo was impressed with how far Grevil had come.   
“Well,” Grevil said as he stood up, “Now that that’s out of the way, we should go investigate the site of this cult’s headquarters. We can’t very well go through with our plan until we’ve seen where the plan is to be carried out.”   
Kujo and Victorique agreed and they left for the headquarters of the Warriors of the Monstre Charmant.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kujo, Victorique and Grevil traveled by horse and buggy to the address shown on Nina’s piece of paper as being the headquarters of the Warriors of the Monstre Charmant.   
It wasn’t much, it was a building like any other in Saubreme, rectangular, gray, seemingly unimportant. At the front of the building was a set of double doors, with the number 132524 above them, the street number of the building.   
They hid in an alleyway not far from the building and observed it from afar.   
“132524 E Montorgueil Street. This is the place,” said Grevil, “Luckily the building is surrounded by other tall buildings, so my squad and I shouldn’t have any trouble finding a place to observe from above.”   
Grevil pointed at a building across the street.  
“There! That’s perfect! Not only is it higher up than the cult’s building, but it looks as though there’s some empty rooms up there. It seems like a wonderful place to hide in. I’ll talk to whoever owns that building and make the arrangements.”   
Grevil began to walk towards the building until Victorique reached out and pulled him back.   
“Wait,” she said, “Look.”   
Victorique pointed at the cult’s building. The double doors opened and two men wearing black robes emerged. Their faces were hidden by hoods attached to the robes. The men waited for a while until a car appeared. They got into the car and it began to move. Victorique quickly pushed Grevil and Kujo behind a wall as the car drove by. When it was gone, Victorique spoke.   
“I don’t know about you, but something about an unmarked building and strange men in black robes just screams cult to me. I think we know for sure now what we’re getting into.”   
“Yes,” Grevil agreed, “There’s no doubt about it.”   
Knowing what they did now, Kujo, Grevil, and Victorique began to put their plan into action. Grevil spoke with the owner of the building across from the cult’s and secured a large room in which his squad could watch from, and by nightfall, everything was in place.   
They debated whether or not they should wait until the morning to execute their plan, but nobody saw any point in waiting. As the clock struck 9, Kujo and Victorique approached the building with Grevil and his squad watching carefully from a distance.   
Kujo and Victorique slowly approached the building, hand in hand. They stopped before the doors, both of them trembling with nervousness in the poorly lit street.   
Kujo looked at Victorique and said, “Ready?”   
Victorique nodded in confirmation.   
They walked up to the doors and knocked.   
They waited a while, until the doors slowly opened. Behind them, was a figure clad in a black robe, his hood covering his face.   
“Yes?” whispered the figure.   
“Greetings,” said Kujo with impeccable formality, “I am Kiyoshi and this is my wife Séraphine.”   
Kujo used the made up names that he and Victorique had agreed upon, to help protect their identities.  
“We are believers in the Monstre Charmant, and have been since the war. We are tired of hiding this from all of Sauville, and wish to join a house of worship. We heard from a member of our former parish that there was one here. Is that true?”   
The figure stood for a moment, contemplating Kujo’s words.   
“This is true. You say you come seeking a house of worship, what happened to your old one? From where do you come?”   
Kujo hadn’t expected this kind of question. He quickly racked his brain for the name of a Monstre Charmant cult. He could not think of anything. If he waited much longer to speak the figure would get suspicious, so he finally said:  
“Incertitude.”   
It was a name from the list of the ministry of the occult’s former puppet organizations. He hoped that it was actually a Monstre Charmant cult.   
There was a silence. The figure stood there for a moment before finally speaking up.   
“Hmm. I have not heard of that particular parish. But no matter, there were many. I can see that your wife Séraphine is clad in what appears to be a ceremonial robe,” said the figure with more enthusiasm in reference to Victorique’s robe, “Were you a nun, by chance?”  
Victorique thought for a moment, pondering whether her being a nun was advantageous or not.   
“Yes, I was a nun at our old parish.”  
“Splendid. Then you two are certainly most welcome!”   
The figure motioned, inviting them inside.   
“Please, enter. It has been some time since we welcomed new members.”   
Kujo and Victorique followed the figure inside. As they entered, the doors closed behind them with a resounding crash.   
Grevil watched from the building across the street, watched as Victorique and Kujo disappeared into the cult’s walls. He clenched his hands in apprehension.   
“It’s up to them now,” he said to himself.


	12. Chapter 12

Kujo and Victorique were led into the building by the figure. They entered a sort of foyer and the figure removed his hood. Under the hood was a bright white mask. To Kujo and Victorique’s astonishment, the mask was of a rabbit. A white rabbit. The Monstre Charmant’s heart.   
The figure gave an elegant bow, his head parallel to the ground and his hand reaching far out to his side.   
“I am Brother Edmond, a rabbit of the divine lady. Pleased to make your acquaintance. My duties here are largely to guard the door and to send anyone who opposes us packing, besides my duties to the divine lady, that is. I am also tasked with the assimilation of new members, so I will be your guide today.”   
“Pleased to meet you,” Kujo said in response.   
“Here at the Warriors of the Monstre Charmant, all members are required to wear a rabbit mask like the one I wear now. I don’t know what your former parish believed exactly, but here we believe that the members of our parish are all of us hearts of the Monstre Charmant, hence the masks, so please wear these at all times.”   
Brother Edmond handed them both masks identical to his. They put them on without question.   
“Ah yes, a splendid belief to have. We did something similar in our parish, but it was with whiskers rather than masks, but this will do just fine,” said Kujo, trying to sound natural.   
Victorique gave Kujo a sideways glance. He didn’t realize that saying such things was dangerous. If Brother Edmond knew that there was no such parish that wore rabbit whiskers, they would be kicked out, or worse.   
“It is true that other parishes of our divine lady have some differences in belief from us, but it is no matter, as long as you are able to adapt to match our beliefs there should not be a problem.”   
Brother Edmond led them into another room, inside was a hatch with a ladder leading downward.  
“The top part of the building isn’t much to look at, everything that matters underground, that way if we were attacked by the police we could hide ourselves.”   
Kujo and Victorique looked at each other, both of them realizing that it would harder for Grevil to assist them if they were underground. They couldn’t back out when they were already this deep in, so they descended the ladder.   
The large room was lit by dim, flickering torches along the walls. In the center was a fountain. On the walls and throughout the room were various paintings and statues. Kujo couldn’t quite make any of them out until his eyes adjusted to the room’s light. Brother Edmond gave them time for their eyes to adjust. When they did, to their horror, all of the paintings and statues were of Victorique.   
“Wonderful. Just wonderful aren’t they?” asked Brother Edmond with enthusiasm, “All of these were crafted by artisans in our cult, all of whom have seen our divine lady the Monstre Charmant with their own eyes! What an honor, no?”   
Victorique, with an expression of shock and great fear, nodded her head, feinting agreement.   
Kujo did not like this at all. These people worshipped his wife, and had paintings and statues of her all over the place. Who knows what would happen if they discovered that their ‘divine lady’ was among them? Kujo had never been so unsettled in his life.   
Brother Edmond walked around the room, admiring the art strewn around it. It was enough time for Victorique and Kujo to give each other a nervous glance through the eyes of their rabbit masks.   
“Ah. How I wish I could enjoy such exquisite art for longer. But no matter, let us go now to the worship hall, all of the other members will be so pleased to meet you. It’s been so long since we’ve had new members, after all.”   
Brother Edmond led them to the adjacent room with Victorique and Kujo following nervously behind.   
They walked into a large room with a high ceiling, an intricate chandelier hung from the rafters.   
At the front of the room was a crowd of people, their heads low in prayer. They were gathered around an altar, complete with a stone statue of Victorique, both of her hands extended towards the heavens in a very godlike manner.   
“My friends!” exclaimed Brother Edmond, “I have brought new members with me this day!”   
The crowd of people turned around, all dressed similarly to Brother Edmond. All with black robes and creepy, white rabbit masks.   
Black robes. White masks.   
Victorique wondered where she had seen such masks before.   
None of the robed cultists spoke, they simply beckoned for Victorique and Kujo to come closer. They did so hesitantly, unsure of the cultist’s intentions.   
As they slowly stepped forward, Kujo felt for his gun, hidden under his clothes. Its presence calmed him somewhat.   
Once they got close enough, they were guided by the cult members to the front of the altar. Brother Edmond instructed them to kneel before the statue of the Monstre Charmant.   
Brother Edmond dramatically thrust his arms into the air and proclaimed, “We must now wait for the heavenly father to make his appearance! At which point he will judge you, Brother Kiyoshi and Sister Séraphine! Fear not young rabbits, for this is a necessary step in your induction into our ranks!”   
They sat there for a time. Victorique and Kujo did not dare move for fear of being sacrificed or something. The cult members stood behind them in silence, hands joined in prayer.   
Finally, a door was opened behind the altar. From it emerged a figure in a white robe. The figure was also wearing a rabbit mask, but it was black with gold embroidery, and far more extravagant than everyone else’s masks.   
The figure approached Victorique and Kujo. It paced back and forth, staring at them behind its black mask, sizing them up. Finally, it stopped and spoke.   
“Welcome, young rabbits. I am Father Francis, and I am the leader of this parish. I have been informed that you wish to join our ranks. In which case, I must first determine your worthiness.”   
Father Francis approached Victorique and removed her mask. He dramatically cast it aside, the mask falling to the floor, clanging as it settled. He did the same to Kujo. He removed Victorique’s hood and exposed her face for all to see. Kujo was afraid that she might be recognized, but there was nothing he could do to help. Father Francis stood and examined Victorique for a while. She stared back at him with unblinking emerald eyes. He motioned for a cult member to approach and whispered something into his ear. The cult member nodded and ran off somewhere. He then approached Kujo, examining him for not quite as long.   
“You two are an awfully young couple, I must say. You must be what? Twenty?”   
“Yes,” Kujo responded, “Both of us.”   
“Splendid!” exclaimed Father Francis with glee, “It is quite nice to see such young people so interested in our beliefs. It gives me hope for the future of our parish.”   
He walked around some more, thinking of something else to add.   
“You there,” he said pointing at Kujo, “I can see that your wife is of Sauvillian descent, but you are not. May I ask from where you hail?”   
Kujo wondered if he should give them his true nationality, as that might give the cultists some clues as to who he is.   
“I’m Chinese,” he said, “I came to Sauville to study and met my wife while studying here.”   
Kujo immediately cursed himself for telling them he was Chinese. The false name he had given them was Kiyoshi, a very Japanese sounding name. But he then thought that as long as none of the cult members here knew what Japanese and Chinese names sounded like, he would probably be ok.   
Father Francis clasped his hands in excitement.   
“Splendid! We’ve not had a Chinese member before, so this should prove quite interesting! From where in China did you hail?”   
Kujo cursed himself again. His knowledge of China was decent, but he had never been there. He hoped that they would not ask too many questions about China that he would be unable to answer.   
“Beijing,” he responded.   
Father Francis clasped his hands in excitement again.   
“How exciting! The only other foreign member we’ve had was from Great Britain. What a privilege this is!”   
Based on the manner in which Father Francis and Brother Edmond conducted themselves, Kujo began to suspect that everyone in this cult was a bit out of their minds.   
“Well, I see no reason not to accept you, what are your names?”   
“Kiyoshi and Séraphine,” replied Kujo.   
“Splendid! Welcome Brother Kiyoshi, Sister Séraphine. Welcome to our parish! Welcome to the warriors of the Monstre Charmant!”   
The rest of the gathered cult members raised their arms and cheered over and over:   
“Welcome Brother Kiyoshi! Sister Séraphine! Welcome Brother Kiyoshi! Sister Séraphine!”  
Both Kujo and Victorique did their best to look pleased at their acceptance into the cult’s ranks, but they were both rather concerned about what they had gotten themselves into.   
The cheering went on until Father Francis stopped it with a hand motion.   
“Now, my young rabbits. While we have accepted you into our ranks, you are not strictly speaking full members quite yet. For there is an ordeal that all new members must go through, and it must be passed in order to become full-fledged members. Luckily, you two have come at an opportune moment! For conditions now are perfect for such an ordeal!”   
Hesitantly, Kujo asked, “And what does this ordeal entail?”   
With a crazed look in his eye, Father Francis threw his arms to the heavens and said, “Why, a sacrifice! A sacrifice must be performed! Bring the sacrifice forward!”   
A set of double doors opened to their left. Two robed cultists brought a shirtless man bound in chains to the center of the room. They secured his chains to a post in front of the altar.   
Kujo and Victorique looked on in horror as several cult members brought forth a table covered with a myriad of weapons. Among them were firearms, knives, swords, clubs, axes, every weapon under the sun.   
“Young rabbits! As is tradition in our parish, you must sacrifice this traitor using the weapons you see before you. Only then can you become full members of our church.”   
Kujo and Victorique stood frozen in shock and disbelief. Neither could possibly bring themselves to murder an innocent, even if their own lives were in danger.   
Father Francis, noticing their hesitation, walked up to the man tied to the post.   
“I can see that you have some misgivings on killing this cretin. I can understand that. Why kill a man when you have no understanding as to why?”   
Father Francis kicked the man several times in the stomach.   
“Speak, dog!” he said when he finished kicking the man, “Who are you and why should our young initiates end your miserable existence?”   
The man coughed a few times, recovering from Father Francis’ attacks. He tentatively began to speak, showing no effort to resist Father Francis’ demands.   
“My name is Franz Piaget,” started the man between coughs, “I work for the Sauville department of defense. My job is to investigate Monstre Charmant cults, as the government wishes to purge Sauville of all such cults that have shown up since the war.”   
Piaget stopped to cough hoarsely. It seemed that he had not been treated well.   
“I was granted autonomy by the king to investigate and infiltrate Monstre Charmant cults so that the government could better understand how they function. I joined this one with the hope of taking it down, but I was found out. And now here I am.”   
Piaget stopped to cough again, this time coughing up large amounts of blood.   
“You see?” said Father Francis, “Now there should be no doubt that this person has to die. He is against our very way of life. He would see to it that our church and others like it are dismantled! He is the embodiment of evil! The embodiment of our enemy! Work slowly, young rabbits, this one does not deserve a quick death!”   
The other cult members voiced their agreement, trying to push Victorique and Kujo to the murder of Franz Piaget.   
Victorique and Kujo both stood in astonishment, frozen with shock at what they were being asked to do.   
Kujo’s mind raced. He could not possibly bring himself to kill anyone unless it was in self-defense. But if they didn’t kill this person, who knows what the cult would do to them?   
Father Francis’ eyes started to become angrier and angrier.   
“Why do you hesitate?” he pressed, “You can clearly see now how this man is against us and our beliefs! Do not tell me that you, like this man, are also spies?”   
“No!” Kujo let out, snapping out of his stupor, “We are not spies, we believe in the divine lady and her teachings just as much as you do. The only problem is… well… our former parish never killed anyone! It’s not something we’re used to!”   
“I don’t care what your former parish believed! You are with us now, and to complete your initiation, this man must be killed!”   
Kujo stood for a moment, his hands clenched.   
He stood there in silence, unable to say anything else.   
Father Francis scoffed, “These two are unworthy! Take them and throw them in a cell for all I care! We’ll figure out what to do with them later! As for the traitor, it is high time he dies. My brothers and sisters! Partake in this feast, use any of the weapons on the table to finish this filth once and for all!”   
At Father Francis’ declaration, the many cult members jumped from where they stood to the table covered in weapons. In a frenzy they reached for weapons, immediately using them on Piaget as soon as they got ahold of one. Kujo and Victorique were dragged by two cult members into another room. Both of them were dragged without protest, as they were both motionless with horror at what they were seeing before them. They were dragged away as a horde of cult members stabbed, kicked, bludgeoned, and clawed at Franz Piaget, his blood flying into the air like rain. They were dragged into another room, and as the doors closed behind them, all they could hear were Piaget’s pleading, tormented screams.


	13. Chapter 13

Kujo and Victorique were dragged into the adjacent room and thrown into a cell. The two cult members who dragged them there left the room and shut the door, extinguishing the only source of light. Kujo and Victorique waited, sitting in shock as their eyes adjusted to the thick blackness of the room. Kujo reached out, feeling for Victorique. His hand found hers and they waited, neither speaking a word.   
A time passed, until Kujo finally found his voice.   
“Victorique. We have to get out of here.”   
His eyes had adjusted by now, and he saw Victorique slowly nod.   
“What they did to Piaget was horrible, and he came here for the exact same reason we did, and whether they know that or not, they can’t be happy with us for refusing to murder him.”   
Victorique nodded again.   
“It’s only a matter of time before we suffer Piaget’s fate. We must escape at all costs, any ideas?”   
Victorique looked up at Kujo with a face full of fear. She opened her mouth to speak, but could not.   
“We still have our weapons on us,” Kujo continued, “They never checked us. We could use them to shoot the lock, but there’s no guarantee that will work. Plus, they’d come running if they heard the shots, and then they would certainly take our weapons, or worse.”   
Victorique looked at the section of her robe where her pistol was hidden, seeming to remember its presence through Kujo’s words. She wanted to respond to him. She wanted to use her fountain of wisdom to aid Kujo in planning their escape, but the words wouldn’t come.  
Kujo sat in silence, defeated by their predicament. He was at a complete loss as to what they should do next.   
Noticing her partner in such distress, Victorique could not remain silent. An instinct rose in her that told her that she must assist her husband at all costs. Saving his life, and by extension her own, was of the utmost importance.   
“I think we should wait for the guards to come to us,” she said with a stutter, “They don’t know we have our weapons. When they open the cell, we’ll shoot them, and then make our escape.”   
Kujo, somewhat surprised at Victorique’s sudden idea, praised her enthusiastically.   
“That’s a great idea, Victorique! Why didn’t I think of that?”   
Victorique let out a giggle.   
“Because you can be a little slow sometimes.”   
“Wha- Hey!”   
Victorique could not help but laugh. The fact that Kujo could make her laugh when their situation was so dark was one of the many reasons why she loved him so much.   
They continued to plan in hushed voices for fear of being overheard.   
“So when the guards come to get us in however much time, we’ll pull out our weapons as soon as they open the door and shoot them,” said Kujo.   
“Yes, and we’ll then make our way to the exit, shooting whoever we have to on the way,” added Victorique, “Hopefully, Grevil will notice the commotion and come to assist. We also have to hope the cult members aren’t too heavily armed.”   
“But they might be, remember the table full of weapons that they had?”   
“Well we’ll have to hope we can escape before they can arm themselves.”   
They talked in hushed voices about their escape plan, making sure they had thought of every eventuality. Their conversation died down and a brief silence set in, reminding the two of the reality and danger of their situation. Remembering the situation they were in, Victorique brought up a serious topic.   
“Kujo. What we are about to do in extremely dangerous, and may very well get one of us killed. If that were to happen, this is the last time we will be with one another.”   
“You’re right. Although both of us will do everything to ensure we make it out alive, death is certainly a possibility. We need to make sure we are focused and do not hesitate to kill for our survival.”   
“Kujo, that’s not what I was getting at,” said Victorique in a sad tone.   
Kujo looked at her in surprise, missing her meaning.   
Victorique sighed and grabbed both of Kujo’s hands in hers.   
“What I’m getting at is this may be our last chance to express our feelings for each other,” she said, “I want to do that now, should the worst occur.”   
Kujo understood and looked into Victorique’s eyes more seriously, prepared to tell his wife what she meant to him.   
“I’ll start,” said Victorique.   
“You already know most of this,” she began, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, “When I met you, I was immediately interested. I noticed you running up the stairs of the library for the first time and I immediately wanted to meet you. I was a sheltered princess, barred from all contact with the outside world. While I would usually hide from anyone in the library out of shyness, you were different. I don’t know what it was, but I felt that I had to meet you. I was frightened at first, talking to someone I had only just met, but it was still easier than usual. I may not have shown it, but I quickly started to consider you more and more of a friend, especially during our first outing to Saubreme and the Queen Berry case. How you saved my life on multiple occasions during that case, and how you stood to protect me when Maurice threatened me with a gun. I think that’s when I really started to trust you. When I knew that you would become more than simply a friend. Following that, my love for you grew steadily over time, as any love does. I think I truly realized my love for you when I was sent to Beezlebub’s Skull by my father. It was the first time I had been away from you in quite a long time. I had become used to seeing you every day and without you I felt painfully empty. And when you came to rescue me, although I may not have shown it, I was overcome with joy. I’ve never told you, at least not verbally, but from that day on I was in love with you. My love grew continuously as you rashly came to my rescue as you always do, and I was heartbroken when you were taken from me on the day of the academy’s Christmas party. When we were finally reunited years later, I felt a joy similar to the joy I felt at Beezlebub’s Skull, yet far stronger. I have loved you more each day since then. I love you, Kujo Kazuya. Let’s get out of this together.”   
Kujo, both shocked and overjoyed at the same time, wondered how he was going to top Victorique’s declaration of love. Realizing that Victorique knew he loved her regardless of what he said, he began to speak, taking care not to leave out anything.  
“I remember going to the library for the first time. I went for no reason other than to explore. I had no idea that you would be there waiting for me. I remember looking upwards and spotting a flash of gold. I curiously went to the top of the library to investigate, and you were there waiting for me. I thought you were a doll, and I was so frightened that I ran away. But as luck would have it, Cecile-Sensei asked me to take some printouts from class to you, and that’s when I truly met you for the first time. At times I thought you difficult and moody, always asking for sweets and making fun of me. But there was a kindness behind your moodiness unlike any I had ever seen before, and so I decided to make you my friend. When I came to Sauville, I never expected to have such fantastic adventures or meet a person as wonderful as you, Victorique. I expected to conclude my studies and return to Japan for work. But you made my time in Sauville and my life more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Like you, I realized my love for you when you were sent to Beezlebub’s Skull. I think it was there in some form from the beginning, but that’s when I truly realized it. I couldn’t let your father manipulate you like that any longer. I had to save you from him at all costs. And when I found you, the joy I felt was unparalleled. I was so happy to see my beloved friend again whom without I had felt so empty. And like you, my heart was broken on the day we were separated, but I fought fiercely in the war, understanding that it was my only way back to you. The day we were reunited was one of the happiest days of my life. I love you too, Victorique Kujo. We will get out of this fine.”   
Most of what had been said was already understood by them both, but it was important for them to say these things out loud when they were in such a dire situation. When Kujo finished what he had to say, Victorique grabbed the fabric of his shirt and forcefully pulled him down to her level.   
They kissed for longer than usual, savoring the sensation of their lips locked together as if they were not going to see each other for a long while. After a time, they slowly pulled away and sat in each other’s arms, waiting calmly for the cult members to come to them.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They waited a long while, a few hours at the very least. Finally, the door to the prison room swung open, and blinding light filled the room. Their eyes were blinded for a few seconds, but they could clearly hear what the cult members had to say.   
“Father Francis wishes to see you. He’s not too pleased about your refusal to kill the traitor,” one of them said.   
“Yeah!” said the other, “You two had better grovel before him if you want to keep your lives, he takes insubordination very seriously. If you truly believe in our divine lady, you would have killed that man without question. Good thing you didn’t, though, he was the first kill we’ve had in months. It felt good to do our divine lady’s work again.”   
By the time their eyes adjusted, the two guards were already at the cell door. Kujo looked at Victorique, confirming silently with her that they would go through with their plan.   
The two cult members unlocked and stepped into the room, unaware of the fate that awaited them. As soon as they reached out to restrain them, Victorique and Kujo simultaneously pulled out their weapons. This was met with brief confusion by the cult members swiftly extinguished by Kujo and Victorique’s marksmanship. Kujo, remembering his military training, was able to take out one of the cult members very quickly with Victorique taking out the second quickly after. Their time spent training at the police station had paid off.   
Kujo took Victorique by the wrist and pulled her over the two vanquished bodies. Reaching the door to the prison, Victorique and Kujo could hear nothing but shouts and footfalls coming from every direction. The other cult members had heard the gunshots, and were coming to subdue them.   
Kujo’s mind raced. Cult members had probably been all over the complex at the time they heard the gunshots. All of them knew exactly where Kujo and Victorique were, and all of them were on their way to Kujo and Victorique’s location, and from every direction.   
Realizing this, Kujo pulled Victorique into the room they had originally entered from, the creepy room filled with portraits and statues of Victorique. When they entered, they noticed that the ladder to the surface was unguarded, and their escape seemed certain.   
Kujo pointed to the ladder.   
“There’s our way out, Victorique! Let’s get out of here before they find us!”   
They approached the ladder. Kujo motioned for Victorique to go ahead of him. Knowing that he would not back down if she argued, Victorique started to climb the ladder without complaint. She had nearly reached the top when she noticed the sound of a body colliding with another. She looked down and saw Kujo lying on the floor, pinned under the great weight of Father Francis, who was pummeling Kujo with his fists.   
“Kujo!” she screamed his name as she jumped off the ladder to his rescue. She threw herself at Father Francis in a futile attempt to throw him off of Kujo’s now unconscious body. But her small physique was no match for Father Francis’ larger, bulkier form, and her attack did nothing. She fell to the ground next to Kujo, grunting in annoyance as she realized her attack was in vain.   
“Ah. So the second blasphemer reveals herself to me. When I entered the room, I only noticed Kiyoshi at first, and I thought for sure you had escaped. But now the far fairer Séraphine offers herself to me. Alas, such fairness will get you nowhere, as I plan to sacrifice the both of you in the name of our divine lady, the Monstre Charmant! What a gift that has been bestowed unto me!”  
Just as Father Francis began to laugh maniacally, a small, spherical object fell from the ladder’s opening. There was a short blast, and the room began to fill with smoke.  
Immediately thereafter, men equipped with gas masks began climbing down the ladder at lightning speed. It was Grevil’s team of police officers! Victorique recognized Grevil in their midst, also wearing a gas mask. In a voice muffled by the gas mask, he spoke dramatically.   
“No need to fear! The finest inspector in all of Sauville- nay, the world is here is assist!”   
Victorique grinned with joy at Grevil’s arrival. She reached for Kujo’s hand.   
“Kujo! It’s Grevil! Grevil’s come to save us!”  
Her excitement was short lived. When Victorique reached for Kujo’s hand, she was met with only the cold, hard ground. She began to feel around frantically for him.  
“Kujo? Where are you? Grevil! Kujo is missing! Grevil, help!”   
The smoke cleared, and Kujo and Father Francis were nowhere to be found. Father Francis must have used the smoke as an opportunity to grab Kujo and escape.   
Beginning to lose her wits, Victorique began searching everywhere she could look while calling Kujo’s name.   
“Search the complex!” Grevil said to his men, “Find the baby squirrel! Do not hesitate to fire at cult members, they should be considered armed and dangerous!”   
As Grevil’s men began to move off in different directions, Victorique pulled on Grevil’s sleeve.   
“Grevil. You will find him. You will find my husband. If you had only seen the horrible things that these people are capable of. You must find him, you must bring him back to me.”  
“Calm down, Victorique,” Grevil said to his sister, “We will do everything we can to return Kujo to you. The man who took him can’t be far, and we have the finest officers in Sauville searching for him.”  
Victorique was starting to lose it. She collapsed to the ground and curled into a ball, placing her hands on her head for comfort.  
“You don’t understand! They killed someone, Grevil. Horribly. And I think they’ve done it before. If those bastards deem someone a heretic, they will kill them mercilessly. That’s what they were about to do to us before we escaped, they were going to kill us. And they’re certainly going to kill him! I’m scared Grevil, I’m scared for my husband’s safety. I’ve lost him too many times Grevil, I can’t go through this again!”   
She was shaking now, shaking uncontrollably in fear for her husband’s life. Grevil placed his hand on her back, trying his best to comfort her.   
“As I said, Victorique, we have officers searching for him now. He probably isn’t even out of the complex yet. Come with me Victorique, assist my officers in searching the compound. If anyone can lead us to him, it’s you.”   
Realizing that she could help Grevil and his officers in finding Kujo, Victorique stopped shaking. Her wits returned and she stood up before asking Grevil to lead the way.   
She followed behind Grevil and two of his men, who constantly held weapons at the ready. Victorique could not pull out her weapon, she didn’t have the energy.   
They walked through the halls of the compound, coming across other officers from time to time. Besides the occasional group of police officers, the halls were eerily empty and silent. Victorique pulled the hood of her robe over her head.   
They searched for what seemed like hours. With each step and with each empty room Victorique’s mind grew foggier and foggier. She knew that she should be keeping an eye out for clues that might lead to Kujo’s whereabouts, but she couldn’t focus. Her ever present fountain of wisdom was of no help to her when she needed it most.   
They eventually circled back to the art-filled room. Victorique began to shake, realizing that their search had been in vain.  
A police officer approached Grevil to report his findings.   
“Report, Chief Inspector Grevil, sir. All inhabitants of the compound seem to have vanished. At present we cannot determine their whereabouts or how they escaped. The compound is empty, sir.”  
“Put the place on lockdown. I want officers patrolling the complex around the clock. I need our best detectives here to find out where they went. Get to headquarters and request the necessary men and supplies.”   
“Yes sir.”  
The officer left to implement Grevil’s orders.   
A single tear fell and landed on Victorique’s shoe. Another fell, and another. Victorique cried silently, realizing that she had lost her heart once again. Again. As if losing him before the war wasn’t enough.   
Grevil did not seem to notice this until he turned to face Victorique. Realizing that she was crying, Grevil immediately tried to comfort her.   
“Victorique, don’t worry. I will do everything I can to get him back. I-”  
“We-” Victorique cut him off.   
She paused as the tears began to flow freely.   
“We didn’t even get to say goodbye.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Under Grevil’s guidance, Victorique returned to the hotel in a depressed haze. Grevil’s police officers had to practically drag her away from the cult’s hideout, as she did not want to leave without finding Kujo. When he was nowhere to be found, Victorique went ballistic. She screamed obscenities at the officers and told them that they were terrible at their jobs, that it was their fault Kujo was gone. Clearly unable to continue investigating, Grevil ordered his officers to remove her from the scene, and he accompanied her back to the hotel.   
As Grevil guided Victorique up the stairs, he started to become very worried. Far more worried than he was even when the couple were separated for the first time.   
Victorique’s expression was completely blank. Victorique usually gave off a blank expression, but now it seemed completely devoid of life. Grevil had already witnessed firsthand what losing Kujo had done to Victorique, but this was far worse. This second separation seemed to be taking an even greater toll on his little sister.   
Hoping to get some response out of her, Grevil decided to speak.   
“Victorique, I’ve told you several times that my men and I are doing all that we can, but that’s clearly not going to help you right now. So instead let me just say that I am here for you. I know that I may not always have been the greatest brother, I mean, I was partially responsible for separating you and Kujo before the war, which is something that I will never forgive myself for, but since the death of our father, I’ve changed. I’ve learned to operate outside of his iron grip. I’ve learned to think for myself.”  
Victorique stared blankly, betraying not even the slightest hint of a reaction.   
“What I’m trying to say, Victorique, is that I-” Grevil gave an awkward cough, “I love you, Victorique. You are my sister and I’ve always cared for you deeply, even if I never really showed it. And during this difficult time, I will be here for you. I will do everything in my power to bring Kujo back to you. I owe you that much as your older brother.”   
Victorique continued to stare, paying Grevil no heed.   
Grevil looked down, sad that he was unable to bring even the smallest piece of happiness into his sister’s life during such a difficult time.   
They eventually reached the door to Kujo and Victorique’s room.   
Victorique took a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. She put her hand on the doorknob to open it, but suddenly stopped.   
She put her hand down and turned to face Grevil. She raised her head and made eye contact with him for the first time since they left the compound.   
She stared, eyes filling again with a hint of emotion. Grevil was shocked by the grief and despair he saw in her eyes.   
“Thank you, Grevil.”  
Victorique said simply this before turning to enter the room. She continued to open the door, shutting it and leaving Grevil behind.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The room was dark. Its atmosphere of joy now gone with Kujo’s absence.   
Now that she was alone, Victorique started to cry once more. It wasn’t fair. They had already gone through this more than they should have had to. Against all odds, Kujo had survived a devastating war and Victorique made it to Kujo’s family home as a fugitive using only an address. They had both faced these trials so they could be with the other, so that they could spend the rest of their lives together. Why did they have to go through it again?  
Victorique let out a sob and collapsed the floor. She grabbed her sides and pulled herself into an embrace, hoping to find some comfort. She sobbed for a long while, not knowing what else to do.   
When she finally got a hold of herself, Victorique stood, planning to go to sleep. She didn’t have the energy left to do anything else.   
She noticed then the silhouette of a wolf sitting on the bed. She drew closer to it, wondering what it was. Upon closer examination, she realized that the silhouette was Sherlock, the stuffed wolf that Kujo had given her.   
This was too much. Sherlock brought a surge of memories flowing into Victorique’s brain. She remembered recieving the present from him and jumping around the room in excitement. She remembered meeting Kujo for the first time in the great library. She remembered going with him to Saubreme for the first time. She remembered the Queen Berry. She remembered Seillune, the city of the Gray Wolves. She remembered taking refuge from the rain with him. She remembered Kujo coming to her rescue at Beezlebub’s skull. She remembered the Academy Christmas party. She remembered losing him for the first time. She remembered seeing him again in Japan. She remembered their wedding day. She remembered the day they moved into their house together. She- She-  
Victorique screamed and threw Sherlock across the room, begging out loud for the memories to stop.   
“I-I- It’s not that I want to forget him, but I just can’t take all of these memories right now. Not after I lost him again. MAKE IT STOP!”   
Victorique wrestled with sleep the entire night. She convinced herself over and over that going to sleep was the best thing to do. That was the only way she could help Kujo now, her mind was too cluttered to be of any use. She would start searching for him first thing in the morning.   
She would show those bastards.   
She would make them pay for the damage they had done.   
She would save Kujo’s life.   
She would bring him back.


	14. Chapter 14

The night before had brought her no rest.   
She was able to sleep, but her sleep was plagued with nightmares, which had probably manifested as a result of her worry for Kujo.   
She got up slowly and walked over to the bathroom mirror. She stared at her reflection, disgusted with herself for her failure in helping Kujo. Her now shorter, brown hair was disheveled and pointing out in all directions. Her eyes had large, black bags underneath them. The robe she had not yet removed from the day before looked shaggy and was starting to smell.   
A fitting image of me. Victorique thought to herself. Ragged. Useless. Putrid. Idiotic. The very image of the scum of the human race.   
Tears began to flow from her eyes once again. Victorique didn’t even try to hold them back. They flowed in small droplets down her face, as if her body had almost run out of tears to shed.   
Suddenly she couldn’t take it anymore, and pounded the mirror with her fist, breaking it.   
“What good am I as a wife and a detective if I could do nothing to help my husband when he needed me most?” She said aloud, “When he was taken, I should have been there to help him. I should have had control over myself. But I didn’t. I lost control. The control over myself that I’ve always had and spent so many years perfecting. I was powerless to help him because I lost control.”   
Victorique, her face resting on the surface of the broken mirror, felt a drop of warm liquid fall onto her face. Surprised, she looked up and realized she had cut her hand in striking the mirror, and a trickle of blood was leaking from it. Cursing her stupidity, she found a first aid kit and bandaged it up, the wound wasn’t so bad.   
Once she finished, she got up and walked into the bedroom.   
She sat on the floor, not knowing what else to do. Without Kujo, she was lost, bewildered. The last time she had felt this way was when they were first separated before the war, when her father had used Kujo to get Victorique to go along with his plan for taking control of Sauville. That was one of the worst days of her life.   
Lost in her self-loathing and worry, Victorique fell sideways on the floor and began to silently cry once more. She stayed there for a while, feeling defeated and powerless. After a time, she opened her eyes.   
The first thing she noticed was a little grey dog sitting on his side near the doorway.   
Sherlock was sitting where Victorique had left him, looking abandoned and discarded.   
Victorique got up and crawled in Sherlock’s direction. She felt guilty for mistreating Kujo’s gift to her in such a way. She picked Sherlock up and gave him an apologetic pat on the head before setting him upright on the kitchen table.   
She sat on a chair near the table and stared into Sherlock’s eyes, hands supporting her chin.   
“What would you do if you were me?” she asked Sherlock earnestly.   
He didn’t respond.   
“You would help him, wouldn’t you?”   
Still no response.   
“That’s what I would do too, but I don’t know if I have the strength.”   
A blank stare.   
“I mean, of course I want to help him, he’s my husband, but look at me! I’m a total mess. I practically lost my mind last night, and if that happens again I’ll be nothing but a liability.”   
Silence.   
“I mean, what if I snap? What if I lose my mind so completely that there’s no going back? What help will I be then?”   
Complete stillness.   
“No. You’re right. I’m the best chance he’s got. God knows Grevil won’t be much help,” Victorique smirked despite herself, “I can do this. I have to do this. He’s depending on me.”   
Victorique gave Sherlock a pat on the head in thanks and stood up.   
After putting on some simple clothing for the day, Victorique made her way to the Saubreme police station as fast as she could, where Grevil was likely to be.   
She ran up the stairs and burst into his office, but instead of seeing him bustling around his office barking orders to some underling like she expected him to be, she was greeted by a dark, empty room with the blinds drawn, and Grevil sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.   
She waited a moment, surprised at what she saw.   
“Grevil?”   
Grevil looked up, surprised to see her there.   
“Ah. Victorique,” he said with a dejected tone of voice, “Come in.”   
She slowly entered the room and sat down at the chair opposite his.   
Grevil didn’t say anything for a moment, avoiding making eye contact with Victorique.  
“I know where Kujo is.”   
Victorique was overjoyed. There was nothing that she wanted to hear more at that moment. She was having trouble figuring out why Grevil was acting so grim.   
Noticing her relief, Grevil continued.   
“He is in a very dangerous situation.”   
Victorique waited for him to continue, unable to speak in the tense atmosphere.   
“Last night, after you left, my team and I found a tunnel that connected to the very same system of tunnels that we discovered at the royal palace. It’s very likely it’s the same one the cult members used to escape. We followed it for a while, and we eventually came across more and more branching tunnels, like the ones we discovered earlier. It would seem that they lead to all different locations around the city, and were probably what allowed the remaining Monstre Charmant cults to survive the war.”   
Victorique waited with bated breath. This was potentially useful information, but all she cared to hear at that moment was anything regarding Kujo’s whereabouts.   
“Luckily,” Grevil continued, “We weren’t that far behind the cult members, and many of them had dropped some items: weapons, masks, and food in their haste to escape. We followed the trail and came across a second hideout. It was smaller, consisting only of a room or two, but I believe it’s where the cult members plan to regroup. When they spotted us, they immediately opened fire. We lost a lot of good men, we were overwhelmed. We had no choice but to retreat.”   
Victorique stayed silent, waiting for Grevil to finish his point.   
“What was left of my squad and I returned here, to the police station. We planned to bring reinforcements. We were about to leave with a lot more men and weapons than we originally came with when a messenger came to our doorstep. He wasn’t a cult member, he was probably just instructed by one to bring the message here. We interrogated him, he knows nothing. In any case, the letter he brought is here.”   
Grevil pulled an envelope out of his desk and gave it to Victorique, she pulled out the piece of paper from inside of it and began to read.   
Dear Saubreme Police Force: (And to whom else it may concern)  
We, The Warriors of the Monstre Charmant, have taken the Chinese man Kiyoshi hostage. For too long, our people have been persecuted by Sauville and its government. We were on the brink of a great society run by the glorious and holy Monstre Charmant, only to have that dream crushed by the hated false god and the subsequent war.   
Since then, your people, (that being the military and police) have hunted our followers like rats for nothing more than their beliefs. As such, we plan to recreate that once promised great society: by seizing control of the royal palace and reshaping the country to fit our needs. Sauville will become a bastion for the believers of the true faith, and from Sauville we shall wage war on all who oppose us, with the goal of eventually uniting the world under the righteous rule of our divine lady.   
We have united the remaining Monstre Charmant sects under our command. We will storm the palace in force in two days’ time. If we should be met with any resistance, the Chinese man will die. And if his life is of no consequence to you, let it be known that our agents are already at work kidnapping countless other Sauvillian citizens to act as additional hostages. I’ll send you an update on all those lives who will come under our stewardship. If you value their lives, you will not resist us. The king and Sauville’s government will quietly stand down and hand control of the country to us and us alone, we will then place people we can trust in key positions of power to gain control over the country, and we will begin the wonderful transformation that will change the world into a haven for the divine lady and her followers.   
Love,   
Father Francis- Supreme Leader of the Fellowship of the Monstre Charmant  
Inside was a photo of Kujo. He was lying on the ground, unconscious, shirtless, and bound in chains.   
Victorique finished reading and stood holding the photo, she looked at Grevil in shock.   
“That’s what the bastard is calling himself now. ‘Supreme Leader of the Fellowship of the Monstre Charmant.’ I would also imagine that the ‘false god’ he’s referring to is your mother, Cordelia. Who overthrew our father at the height of revolution. It seems she made an impression on them. And he did send me that update, by the way.”   
Grevil showed her a list of around twenty names, all of whom had apparently been taken hostage.   
“All of these people are reported missing. Which means that their lives and Kujo’s life are at risk. We know where they are, and we know what they plan to do, but we can do nothing or they will murder these people, including Kujo.”   
Victorique looked again at the photo. She grasped it with both hands, realizing again just how much danger Kujo was in.   
Don’t worry. She thought to herself. I’ve saved you so many times. I will do it again.   
“We can’t allow them to take control of the country, it would mean chaos. But we can’t let those people die either. Victorique, if there was ever a moment that I needed your wisdom, that moment is now.”   
Victorique said nothing for a moment, staring at the picture of Kujo and rubbing her thumb against it, as if trying to let him know that she was there for him.   
Her mind had worked quickly, and she already had a plan to set in motion. She took the photo and placed it in her breast pocket, holding on to the only picture she had of him in that moment.   
“I have an idea,” she said.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The train’s whistle blew as it began to move. She and Grevil sat opposite each other, waiting anxiously to arrive at their destination.   
They were headed to Saint Marguerite Academy, for it was there that something waited that was crucial to Victorique’s plan.   
Victorique stared out the window, wishing the train would move faster, for each second that ticked away brought Sauville closer and closer to a state of war.   
“We’ve alerted the king. He’s aware of the cult’s plan. But we can’t show any sign of preparing to defend against them or they might kill the hostages, all we can do is work from the shadows,” said Grevil, telling his sister what she already knew in an effort to calm her mind.   
Victorique said nothing, and they continued their journey to Saint Marguerite Academy in silence.   
After a few hours, the train pulled into the station at the town near Saint Marguerite Academy.   
As the train approached the station, Victorique felt a pang of sadness as she took in the town’s familiar sights. She remembered spending much time here with Kujo, and if seeing the town made her feel this way, how would she feel when they reached the academy where she had spent even more time with him?   
It was much worse. Seeing the academy gates and its familiar sights and smells nearly pushed Victorique over the edge. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, which Grevil noticed despite her best efforts to conceal that fact. Victorique shook with despair, on the verge of tears. Until Grevil placed his hand on her back. She looked up at him, towering many feet above her with a sympathetic smile on his face.   
“Come on, get ahold of yourself, we have a job to do,” he teased, trying to cheer her up.   
Victorique wiped the tears that were starting to form at her eyes away.   
“You’re right,” she responded, “Let’s go.”   
They made their way to the pink house amid the grass hedge maze, the house where Victorique and Kujo had stayed only a few days prior.   
Victorique opened the door and she and Grevil walked inside. Grevil stopped and waited in the entranceway, leaving Victorique to face her memories alone.   
She silently thanked him for this, and was pleased that he knew her well enough to know when she wanted to be alone.   
Victorique walked into what was once her room. It was still messy and unkempt from her and Kujo’s recent stay there. She picked up one of the pillows and sat on the bed. Kujo’s scent still clung to it. She buried her face in it, taking in its fragrance. She was surprised how much she missed Kujo’s smell, and realized that you miss the strangest things about people when they are absent.   
She cast the pillow aside, remembering that the clock was ticking, and made her way to the closet. She was searching for a specific dress. One she had worn only once all those years ago.   
The closet was filled from top to bottom with boxes, filled with articles of clothing that she had been unable to bring with her to Japan. Going through them, she realized that she missed many of the dresses that she found inside, and thought that if she and Kujo got out of this, she would have to arrange to have them sent home.   
She stopped when she came across a specific dress. It wasn’t the one she was looking for, but seeing it made her stop nonetheless. The dress was relatively simple, black, and complete with intricate, white lace. It was the dress she was wearing when she met Kujo. Back then, it had been her favorite dress. It was simple, black, neutral. While it had all the qualities of a dress that she liked most, it still gave an impression of indifference and made her seem composed and collected when she wore it. After she met Kujo, she had begun to find it somewhat distasteful. It was too simple, too melancholy, too harsh. After she met Kujo, she started to wear more intricate and colorful dresses. It was her own subtle way of expressing how she felt about him and expressing how he had changed her over time.   
After admiring the dress for a while, she set it aside and resumed her search for what she was looking for. She searched for a long while, pulling out a blue traveling dress, a purple summertime dress, a maid’s dress, all dresses she had worn at some point during her time at the academy. But she wasn’t finding the one she needed to.   
“Victorique?” A female voice sounded at the doorway.   
Victorique started and looked up in surprise, not expecting anyone to be there.   
Standing in the doorway was Cecile-sensei, with a look of concern on her face.   
“Cecile? What- What are you doing here?” asked Victorique in surprise.   
“I would ask you the same thing, but Grevil already filled me in. Kujo’s in danger? He’s been taken hostage by some sort of cult? What are you doing here when he needs your help in Saubreme?”   
Victorique looked away, looking for the words to explain herself to Cecile.   
“Yes. He’s been taken hostage, Cecile. They plan to overthrow the government, and they’re going to kill him and many other innocent lives if we try to do anything to stop them.”   
Cecile walked further into the room, noticing Victorique’s increased sorrow. She placed her hands on Victorique’s shoulders in consolation.  
“I have come here in search of the Monstre Charmant dress that you and Sophie allowed me to borrow on Christmas day all those years ago,” Victorique continued, “Wearing it, I plan to confront the cult members in the hope that they will recognize me as their god. If I can get them to accept me, I can save all of those lives, including Kujo’s.”   
“Victorique. You can’t do something so dangerous! And your hair! They won’t recognize you with that hair! Even if you’re wearing the dress!”   
“This is something only I can do, Cecile!” Victorique suddenly lashed out, “My likeness as the Monstre Charmant legend is embedded in the cult member’s heads. My father made sure of that. The only other person who could possibly do this is my mother, but she’s dead. And as for the hair, I’ll get a wig made or something. Who else do you know that has my physique, is five feet tall, has the hair that I did, and knows enough about the situation to convince the cult members properly?”   
Cecile took her hands off of Victorique’s shoulders in surprise and was unable to come up with a response.   
Victorique calmed herself.   
“I know you are just trying to protect me, Cecile, which I am grateful for. But my husband is in danger and I would help him regardless of my role as the Monstre Charmant. So you see, I need that dress. And I’m certain I last left it here.”   
Cecile stood for a moment, taking in what Victorique said to her.   
“I’ll help you look,” she said finally.   
They looked through the boxes together, throwing dresses and other articles of clothing in all directions as they searched. Finally, Victorique lifted a box to search through it when she noticed something purple sitting behind the boxes on the closet floor. She picked it up and recognized immediately that she had found the dress she was looking for. It was crumpled and covered in creases from years of sitting on the floor, but it retained its bright, purple hew.   
Cecile stopped searching when she realized that Victorique had found the dress.  
Victorique held the crumpled dress in front of her, feeling guilty for mistreating something that had been lent to her.   
“I must have thrown it aside without properly hanging it up when I last wore it,” Victorique began, “On Christmas night, in my sadness and rage from when Kujo was taken from me, I cast it aside without a second thought.”   
“Nothing a good cleaning and ironing can’t fix,” said Cecile, snatching the dress away from Victorique.   
“Leave it to me,” Cecile continued, “I’ll get this dress back in wearing order, think of it as my contribution to the ‘save Kujo’s life’ fund.”   
Surprised, Victorique took Cecile’s hands which were still holding the dress.   
“Thank you, Cecile. I very much appreciate that. I’m going to need it back as soon as possible though, we have less than two days before the cult plans to act.”   
Cecile gave Victorique a salute.   
“Don’t worry, Victorique. I’ll have it done by tonight. I imagine you aren’t planning on staying overnight, so I’ll come to Saubreme tomorrow with the dress.”   
Victorique expected no less of her ever helpful teacher, but still thanked her profusely.  
“Thank you, Cecile. You don’t know how much that means to me.”   
“Anything to help our Kujo,” said Cecile with a wink.   
Cecile suddenly gave Victorique a long and encouraging hug.   
“We will get him back, Victorique. You of all people are capable of that.”   
Victorique, her initial shock at Cecile’s embrace waning, placed her hands on Cecile’s back, returning the hug.   
“Thank you.”   
They stood in their embrace for a while until Cecile walked away, smiling as always.   
Victorique smiled at Cecile’s cheerfulness. It was good to see someone smiling in such dark times.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Victorique returned to the entranceway where Grevil was waiting.   
“Let’s go,” she said to him as she walked out the door, “There’s one more place I want to go.”   
They made their way to the place Victorique wanted to visit the most, the great library. She wanted to come here to find some piece of mind. If she went to the place where she and Kujo had spent the majority of their time together at the academy, maybe she would find the extra strength she needed to save Kujo.   
Grevil waited again at the bottom of the tower. On her way up the long, crisscrossing staircase, something caught Victorique’s eye. A sign indicated which level she was on, the religious section. Victorique remembered a book that was stored here. She found a stepladder, which allowed one to climb their way to the top of the large bookshelf. She stopped on the thirteenth step, the so called “Thirteenth step of the staircase to heaven.” The step that no one dared to stand on. Victorique had led Kujo here once in search of a book, the book the false Avril had hidden to keep the postcard inside with its very valuable stamp safe from prying eyes. Sitting on a shelf was a book with golden lettering on its spine. The lettering read, “La fée dorée de la haute tour.” The Golden Fairy of the High Tower. She pulled it out, memories filling her mind of when she read it with Kujo. She opened it to the page with an image depicting the golden fairy, her hair resembling that which Victorique had cut off.   
“It does look a lot like me,” Victorique said to herself.   
She decided to take it to show to a wig designer who might be able to craft a wig for her.   
After taking the book, Victorique climbed the short remaining distance to the botanical garden at the top of the tower.   
The sun was beginning to set, and the botanical garden was not as bright as it usually was, but seeing it brought a flood of memories into Victorique’s head.   
Here they would study, here they would eat snacks brought from the village, here they would spend time deducing the solution to the latest mystery, here they would spend all of their free time talking and being with the other until the sun set.   
The pure volume of melancholy memories was almost overwhelming. Victorique had to sit down, and made her way to the first place that came to mind.   
She walked over to her cupboard, her hiding place. She would go here whenever she needed to be alone or whenever people she didn’t know entered the library.   
She climbed inside and shut the door, she fit just as perfectly as she had five years ago. The cupboard’s confined walls brought her comfort, as they always had. This place had been her refuge, her sanctuary. It was comforting for her to be there during such uncertain times.  
She spent a long amount of time in the cupboard, calming her nerves. She sat there thinking of Kujo and their time spent in the botanical garden, knowing that she was in their special place was enough to bring memories of him to the forefront of her mind.   
She wished that Sauville and Japan were not so far away. If she and Kujo got out of this, they would eventually be returning to Japan. Victorique loved being in Japan with Kujo, but she missed people like Grevil and Cecile. She missed the academy, the botanical garden, and Saubreme. Having been away for so long, she had almost completely forgotten about Sauville, the place where five years ago she had met Kujo. Being the country where she had met the love of her life, it now held a special significance to her that it never had in the past. She wished that she could visit the places and people of Sauville more often.   
After spending some time in the cupboard, Victorique decided that it was time to go. She opened the door, the sun had set, and the garden was almost pitch black. She thought she had probably been in there for the better part of an hour.   
Victorique spent some more time in the garden in the dark, taking in what she could with the low level of light. Once she was satisfied, she began the long climb down the stairs, taking care not to trip.   
Once she reached the bottom, Grevil was still waiting where he had been when they got there. Feeling grateful to him for being so patient with her, Victorique did something that would have been unthinkable just a few years prior.   
“Thank you for waiting, Grevil,” she said as she wrapped her arms around her brother, her short arms not quite meeting at the other side, “I have everything I need, let’s head back to Saubreme now.”   
Grevil, still in Victorique’s embrace, placed his hand on the top of her head and left it there. They stood like that in silence, experiencing a bond between siblings that should have been shared long ago.   
They reached the station and bought tickets for the night train to Saubreme. Once they boarded and found a seat, Victorique broke the long silence which had been sustained since their earlier hug.   
“Grevil. I am about to endanger my life in a very serious way. It’s possible that I might end up dead as a result. If that should happen, I just- I just want you to know that you are very important to me.”  
Grevil said nothing, but made eye contact with Victorique as she spoke.   
“We’ve had our differences in the past,” she continued, “But ever since you let me go when I was on the run to Japan, I’ve realized that you’re not who I once thought you were. And in case there was ever any doubt, I want you to know that I’m very glad to have you as a sibling.”   
Grevil didn’t say anything, trying to think of how to frame his next words.   
“I’ve made mistakes in the past,” he said finally, “When we were younger I was a little too quick to use your wisdom for my own gain, and I was a little too eager to follow our father’s orders, regardless of what they were. But you know that I meant no harm. I regret that I wasn’t always exactly the best brother to you in the past, and I want to put that behind us now. And in case there was ever any doubt, Victorique, I care for you very deeply as my sister, I always have.”   
Victorique got up from her seat, which was across from Grevil’s, and sat next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.  
“I know,” she said.   
They sat like that for a while until Victorique let out a long, drawn out yawn.   
“The day has gotten to you, I see,” said Grevil, “Perhaps you should get some sleep, Saubreme is still a ways away.”   
Victorique nodded. The stress of worrying for Kujo and traveling to the academy had certainly gotten to her.   
“I’ll sleep then. I’m not likely to get much of it in the next two nights anyway,” Victorique responded, “Wake me when we get there.”   
Victorique curled into a ball on Grevil’s shoulder and prepared to sleep. Thoughts of Kujo’s safety still weighed on her mind, but the fatigue and the gentle sound of the tracks going by underneath eventually coerced her to body into a deep, tranquil sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

“Wake up, Chinese dog!”   
Kujo stirred. He started to force himself slowly off the ground, his mind cloudy from the abuse and his inadequate sleep.   
“I said wake up, useless swine!”   
Kujo had apparently not moved fast enough, as a hand swiftly smacked him across the face, sending him back to the ground. Kujo opened his eyes to look at his aggressor.   
His holding cell door was open, and a cult member was standing over him, arms crossed and rabbit mask obscuring his face.   
“The Supreme Leader wants to have a word with you,” the masked cult member said, “You are going to be playing a very important role in our plan tomorrow, and he wishes to discuss that with you.”   
The cult member produced a set of handcuffs. Kujo held out his arms. He had learned the hard way that resisting these people would only result in more physical violence and pain. He obediently allowed the cult member to lock him up.   
Kujo was guided by the cult member who had woken him along with two other guards. Apparently they thought that a defenseless, shackled, and beaten man like himself needed such a procession, or maybe it was just because he was being taken to their precious Supreme Leader.   
He was guided along a hallway and into a large atrium. To the south was a long tunnel, where they had come from the day before. It was barricaded with sandbags and under guard by very heavily armed cult members. Kujo had been unconscious for quite some time, but he had been able to deduce through his previous meetings with the Supreme Leader that he was in some sort of second hideout, and it was being protected by the cult members from attack by the police.   
It also seemed like the cult members did not have a lot of space available to them. While the former hideout was huge, this one only seemed to be composed of a handful of rooms. As such, supplies and people were jam-packed into the room he had been led into. He found himself disgusted to be in the presence of so many people who had sided with this sickening band of madmen and murderers.   
He was soon led to the door of a smaller room, the Supreme Leader’s personal office. That was what Father Francis was calling himself now, the ‘Supreme Leader of the Cults of the Monstre Charmant.’ Father Francis’ self-importance made Kujo sick.   
He was forced into a chair and had his hands tied to it. He was made to wait until Father Francis decided to grace Kujo with his presence. The supreme leader walked in with an air of arrogance and regality.   
“Ah. Kiyoshi. How long has it been? Two or three hours since our last meeting? I remember you weren’t exactly cordial then, so perhaps you’ve changed your attitude this time around. Tell me, can we now discuss business like civilized, respectable people?”   
Kujo wasn’t about to act cordial with this bastard, but he had learned already that being too short with the Supreme Leader would only lead to more beatings, so he decided to tone it down this time. Besides, he still wasn’t completely sure if Victorique had made it out of the compound alive, and he needed to get that information out of Father Francis so that he knew she was safe.   
“I’m just splendid, Francis. Thank you for asking,” Kujo responded.   
“Tsk Tsk. We can’t have that now can we? I’ll let it slide, but you’d be wise to remember who you are talking to. I am the Supreme Leader, never simply, ‘Francis.’”   
Kujo swallowed his pride, knowing that Francis would not continue until he got what he wanted.   
“I’m just splendid, Supreme Leader, thank you for asking.”   
“Excellent,” continued Father Francis, “Now that you’ve calmed down somewhat, we can get down to business.”   
Kujo stared Father Francis directly in the eyes, projecting as much hostility as possible.   
“You’ve already been made aware that we have a very special plan in mind for you,” said Father Francis, “If our plan is to succeed, we are going to need your full cooperation.”   
Kujo said nothing.   
“You’re already aware, due to the rising population of the prison room, that we are collecting Sauville citizens to act as hostages in our upcoming assault on the royal palace. These hostages are simply assurance, they do not really matter to us in the long run. You, however, are our principal hostage, do you know why?”   
“No,” said Kujo, abruptly.   
“We have been unable to determine your identity. Our contacts in the royal palace can’t find any documentation on you, probably due to the fact that you’re a foreigner. There is no record of any Kiyoshi coming here recently from China. I know a lost cause when I see one, though. I could get the information out of you, if I interrogated you enough, but we are short of time. Your identity is not what’s important. What’s important is that you and your wife, Séraphine, obviously have some connection with the troublesome chief inspector, Grevil de Blois. Why else would he storm our hideout so valiantly when he found out you were in danger? Someone with his kind of power would not have taken such a risk unless very important people were in danger. It matters not if you are personal friends of his or simply his employees. It is obvious that you are important to him in one way or another.”   
Kujo was glad that they were unable to discern the whole truth when it came to him and Victorique, but the fact that Francis knew what he did was disturbing to say the least.   
“The inspector is one of our greatest enemies in this endeavor. And I wasn’t going to tell you this, but I suppose no harm can come of it. Séraphine escaped, so she is currently out of our jurisdiction, but we can at least use you against the inspector. And if Séraphine is with him, she is surely pushing him towards a rescue attempt, something that would probably result in his death or capture.”   
Kujo said nothing.   
“So you see,” Francis continued, “You clearly are a very important person to the Saubreme Police Force, or at the very least, you hold sway with Inspector de Blois. Therefore, as long as we have you, the government’s chances of attacking us are lower than they otherwise would be.”   
Kujo was amused at how important Francis thought his hostage really was. He was acting almost as if he had captured the king himself. Kujo was nowhere near as important as Francis thought he was, but Kujo wasn’t going to tell him that.   
“The Sauvillian government isn’t evil, but I have my concerns as to exactly how tolerant they’ll be of our takeover. Even if we threaten to kill the hostages,that might not be enough to stop them from attacking us given what is at stake. But if we have you, and make it clear to them that you are in our custody, de Blois will probably do something to avoid your death, making our conquest all the easier.”   
Kujo pondered this. Would Sauville’s government attack the cult members at the expense of himself and the other hostages? Surely this would be viewed as a negative thing for the government to do, but Kujo wasn’t so sure they would try to save the lives of a handful of citizens at the cost of handing control of the country to the cult members.   
“As such, we have a procession planned. We will all exit the tunnels at the junction nearest the royal palace. We will then enter the main street leading to the palace, which we’ve demanded be made empty for our arrival. You will lead the procession, unchained, and with a weapon pointed at your back from a distance. This will clearly let de Blois and his associates know that we have you as a hostage and mean business. The other hostages will be chained behind you and some guards to be followed by the members of our church. We will make our way to the palace without incident and take control.”   
“Why will I be unchained?” Kujo asked, “Why make it easier for me to escape?”   
“I want to make them think you’ve been treated well,” Francis replied, “If you’re as important as I think you are, they’ll appreciate that. Furthermore, if you try and escape, not only will we shoot immediately, but we will condemn Séraphine to death. We don’t know much about her yet, but rest assured, once we have control of the country, we will find her. If you do not fully cooperate in this, I promise you that she will die.”   
Kujo tried to keep a straight face.   
“You’re assuming that I have some sort of emotional connection to her,” he said, trying to keep control of himself, “For all you know we might not even know each other.”   
“I was a married man once, Kiyoshi,” said Father Francis, “And I’ve threatened the lives of many a man’s wife. I know which emotions to look for when I make a threat like this one.”   
Kujo lost control of his emotions for a second, allowing an expression of fear and concern to flash across his face.   
“Don’t think I didn’t see your emotional reaction just then,” said Father Francis with a grin, “That proves it. Not to worry though, as long as you cooperate, Séraphine will not be harmed. I won’t make any promises, but if you cooperate, you might even get to see her again.”   
Kujo looked to the side, trying to hide any further emotion.   
There was a pause.   
“Well, that’s all I need from you. You understand your role, and you understand the consequences if you don’t cooperate. The procession starts first thing tomorrow morning. Make sure you remember what I’ve said. Guards!”   
Three guards came in to bring Kujo back to his cell. Kujo absentmindedly went through the motions of being untied, handcuffed, and brought back to his cell. After Francis’ threat against Victorique’s life, he could think of nothing else.   
When he was returned to his cell, all he could do was lie on the ground, trying his hardest to tell himself that Victorique would be okay. He knew that to insure her life he only had to do what the cult members told him to, but he was not so sure that they would keep their promise.   
Kujo lied there for a while, trying to calm his thoughts, when he heard someone in the cell next to him.   
“Hey. Hey! Kiyoshi!”   
He turned his head and saw the eyes of a boy of prepubescent years peering through a crack in the wall from the adjacent cell. It was Pierre, the boy who had occupied the cell next to him since he got there. Pierre was one of the many people who had been kidnapped to act as a hostage for the cult, and Kujo had formed a quick friendship with the boy as a result of their shared predicament. He did not however tell Pierre his real name for fear of the cult members finding out.   
“Where did they take you?” asked Pierre, “What did they say?”   
Kujo did not respond for a moment, unsure if Father Francis wanted him to be telling the other hostages of his plan. He decided to go ahead and do it, they would all know in the morning anyway.   
“Tomorrow they’re going to try and take over the royal palace, and as a result, Sauville. They’re going to parade us through the streets as hostages so the government won’t retaliate. For whatever reason, I’m going to be leading us all as some sort of principal hostage. They’ve threatened my wife’s life if I don’t cooperate.”   
“Huh. Not the best news I’ve heard all week, but at least we’re getting out of here. I’m sick of dank, dark hellhole.” Pierre replied.   
In his frustration and anger Kujo almost started lecturing the boy about how he didn’t understand the consequences of what was about to occur, and that it might be better for them to stay captured, but decided that getting angry at him would help no one.   
“I have no idea what time it is, given that we’re stuck in this prison, but Francis said that we weren’t moving until the morning, so I assume there’s still some time before we’ll be rounded up and moved. We should all get some sleep, Pierre. I imagine tomorrow is going to be an eventful day.”   
“Woah man,” Pierre responded, “If you don’t want to talk, just say so. Fine, I’ll leave you alone so you can get some sleep.”   
Pierre moved away from the crack in the wall and was silent. His manners were a bit off, but Kujo had come to like the boy in their short time together. He was, after all, the closest thing Kujo had to a friend in the cult’s headquarters, so he could deal with Pierre’s shortness and snarky attitude.   
Kujo had suggested to Pierre that they all get some sleep, but he wasn’t so sure that he was going to get any that night. Not only were the cells incredibly uncomfortable, but Kujo found his thoughts filled with images of Victorique. He worried for her safety. He worried if she had been injured in her escape from the cult members. He worried how she was faring with the current situation. He worried that the cult would find and torture or kill her. He worried what would happen to her if he never saw her again. Kujo knew Victorique well. Even if she survived all of this, losing Kujo for good would damage her beyond repair. She would never recover from his loss for as long as she lived. Knowing this, Kujo knew that he had to do whatever he could to get back to her, he just wasn’t sure if he could do anything at all.   
He tried to clear thoughts like these from his head, to no avail. That night was one of the most sleepless nights in Kujo’s lifetime, perhaps more sleepless than his nights spent on the front lines during the war.   
Hours passed. Kujo lied on the ground with his eyes wide open, trying to tell himself that everything would work out fine. Eventually, the fatigue got to him and he could no longer stay awake. He slept for an uncertain amount of time before being woken up by a knocking at his cell wall.   
He stirred and looked to the side, noticing Pierre’s eyes through the crack once more.   
“Something’s going on,” Pierre said, “I think we’re getting ready to move.”


	16. Chapter 16

“We can’t possibly make something like that in a day’s time! That would require at least a fortnight!”   
Victorique looked at the clerk in dismay. She should have known that no wig craftsman would be able to craft a wig that resembled her old hair, given how long it was, but the dire situation was making Victorique desperate.   
“I can pay you extra,” she replied, “I’ll pay twice the amount, thrice even. I need a wig like the one in this picture.”   
She pointed to the picture of the fairy in The Golden Fairy of the High Tower, which she had borrowed from the great library the night before.   
“Listen dear, I would love to take your money, I would. But the fact of the matter is it’s simply not possible to make a wig of this size in so little time. You could try other wig manufacturers and see if they have anything like that in stock, but you’re asking for a very specific type of wig that I doubt anyone has.”   
Victorique regretted cutting her hair. If she had taken a larger risk and gone to the cult’s hideout with her hair intact, she might not be in this situation.   
Victorique closed the book in frustration and started to leave.   
“Thank you for your time,” she said as she shut the door.   
She exited onto a busy Saubreme street, holding the book in both hands, slumped in defeat. Grevil was outside waiting for her.   
“No luck?”   
Victorique shook her head.   
Grevil frowned.  
“That’s the eighth wig craftsman we’ve visited today. We’ve probably visited every such shop in the entire damn city! Why is it exactly that you need a wig so badly?”   
Grevil’s sudden outburst surprised Victorique, and she quickly looked away from him.   
“Why do you need one, Victorique? We’re wasting time!”   
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Victorique responded.   
“No Victorique, I need to know now! We’ve spent the better half of the morning looking for a damn wig, and I’ve gone along with you until now. It’s time you stop being so secretive like you always are and fill me in!”   
Victorique looked up. Grevil’s face was filled with a mix of anger, exasperation, and worry. Victorique had been so focused on saving Kujo that she hadn’t stopped to consider how all of this might have been affecting Grevil.   
“I’m worried about Kujo too, you know,” Grevil said, “Not only do I have the kingdom’s safety to worry about, but Kujo’s my family too.”   
Victorique’s eyes widened.   
She stared at Grevil for a moment, taken aback. It was wrong to keep Grevil in the dark, and turned to face him.   
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ve been so focused on Kujo’s safety that I didn’t think how you might be feeling. I’m also simply used to working on my own, without anyone to fill in. That was wrong of me. I apologize.”   
Grevil relaxed.  
“I know, I’m sorry,” he said calmly, “I just need to know what you plan to do. If I know what’s going on, I can help you do that much more easily.”   
Victorique closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure how Grevil would respond to what she was about to say.   
“I plan to infiltrate the cult.”  
Grevil said nothing, as if unsurprised.   
“I’m going to disguise myself as the Monstre Charmant and appear before the cult members as they march on the palace. I’ll convince them that I’m the real deal and they’ll accept me as their god. Once I’ve taken control, I can manipulate them into releasing the hostages. Once they’re free, your men should have no trouble retaking the palace.”  
Grevil ran a hand through his hair, letting out a long breath of air as he did so.   
“Somehow, I’m not surprised,” he said, “Still, much of your plan could go awry. Have you considered what might happen if they don’t believe you? They’ll kill you and the hostages. One wrong move, and everyone dies.”   
Victorique’s eyes narrowed as she tried to keep tears from flowing.   
“This is all I can think of,” she said, “Normally, my fountain of wisdom is teeming with ideas, but now this is the only one I can come up with. Whether or not it succeeds, I need to do something. I need to go through with this. I need to know that I at least tried to do something to help him.”   
She was on the verge of tears. Victorique had cried so much since Kujo’s abduction that she didn’t want to cry anymore.   
Realizing this, Grevil spoke.   
“Well, it’s not such a bad idea, and it might just work, considering who we’re dealing with.”   
He grabbed her hand, she looked up in surprise.   
“Come on, I think I know of one more place we can try.”   
Grevil pulled her towards the police car they had been using that day, and before Victorique knew it, she was in the passenger seat and the car was on its way.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They had driven for quite a while. Victorique noticed that the quality of the roads had gone down, and realized that they were on the outskirts of Saubreme’s metropolitan area. She looked behind them as Grevil drove. The sprawl of Saubreme could be seen in the distance. They were east of the city. Victorique had never been on this side of Saubreme before. For her entire life in Sauville, she had always gone southwest to the academy or spent time in Saubreme itself. She had also gone north to the village of the grey wolves and to Beelzebub’s Skull in Lithuania, but never east. Sauville’s wilderness stretched out before them as Saubreme’s suburbs started to thin out.   
“Grevil,” Victorique spoke for the first time in a while, “We’re outside the city. Why have we gone so far? Are we really going to find a wig out here?”   
The car jerked as it sped over a pothole. Victorique grimaced as the car shook with the impact.   
Once the car regained its stability, Grevil responded.   
“Yes. You might not think so, but there’s a store out here our father often took me to to buy clothes. He never took you, I suppose, but much of your clothing as a child came from the store we are going to.”   
Victorique pondered this for a moment. She had never known her father very well, and wondered why he would travel all the way out here for clothing when there were plenty of shops in Saubreme.   
“Was our father very into clothing? This must be some shop if he would come all the way out here.”   
Grevil thought for a moment before responding, recalling memories from long ago.   
“Well, yes. I guess he liked clothing more than most, but I wouldn’t say he was a connoisseur or anything like that. I think he came to this store once as a child, and took a particular liking to it. He became quite close friends with the owner. He would spend much time talking with the owner when I was a boy, and visited often.”  
“I see…” Victorique responded before trailing off.   
Victorique never knew much of her father. She had really only ever considered him to be an evil, self-centered man. While she wanted to know more about the man who sired her, the more she learned the more he started to seem like a normal human being. A human being with friends, likes, and dislikes. She didn’t like applying such human concepts to a man she had demonized since she was small. Put off by the idea, Victorique stopped asking questions.   
They traveled for a while longer before coming across a small town. They sped past a sign that read, “Chaumont” and rode down what seemed to be some sort of main street. Grevil turned off the main road and parked the car on a side street. The building they had arrived at had no signage indicating what it was for, but heaps of cloth and linens could be seen strewn around haphazardly through the windows.   
Upon seeing the disorderly state of the shop’s interior, Victorique could not help but comment.   
“It seems… Unsatisfactory.”  
“That may be true,” Grevil responded, “But the owner really knows his stuff. Our father was an aristocrat, and he wouldn’t have come here if it didn’t have some value.”  
Victorique followed Grevil up a short, rickety flight of steps. She counted the steps in her head, reaching the top at the count of five. Grevil pushed on the door and it creaked open.   
Sitting at the front desk was an old man. His glasses covered the majority of his face, and his back was locked permanently in a slight hunchback.  
The man looked up and adjusted his huge glasses, trying to make out the faces of his visitors.   
“My lord,” he said in a fractured, whispery voice, “Is that not Monsieur Grevil?”   
“Hello Nicholas,” Grevil said to the man.   
“By God, it’s been years. You stopped coming ever since Albert went on his little power trip.”   
“A power trip that took years from his life, and took much from the kingdom,” Grevil said with eyes downcast, “I thought it was time to pay you a visit again.”   
“Well, Albert may have caused Sauville some trouble, and I can’t condone his actions, but I am always glad to see you, Grevil. And I would be glad to see Albert too were he alive.”   
The old man turned his gaze towards Victorique, adjusting his glasses to get a better look at her.  
“And who do we have here? Looking for a new dress for the young lady? She looks awfully young for you Grevil, you dog.”   
Grevil laughed nervously and shook his head.   
“No Nicholas, that’s not how it is. This is my sister.”  
“Your sister?” The old man was shocked, and looked Victorique up and down, adjusting his glasses all the while, “You have a sister?”   
“Well, half-sister, but yes.”  
“Albert never told me he had a daughter.”   
“Well, he never really told anyone. Only I and the rest of my father’s staff knew of her. Why do you think my father was always buying clothing for a female child?”   
Victorique stepped forward with conviction and extended her hand.  
“Victorique,” she said, “My name is Victorique.”   
The man was slightly taken aback, but tentatively took Victorique’s hand. His handshake was light and feeble.   
“Nicholas,” he said.   
“My father didn’t want the public to know of me,” Victorique began, “He forced my mother to give birth to me because he believed that her genes would give him the advantage he needed to take control of the kingdom. So he kept me locked up my entire childhood, waiting for the day when I would become useful.”   
The old man was shocked at hearing such terrible events retold, and after some thought, his eyes widened.   
“Now I remember! When Albert was on his power trip, when he nearly seized control of the kingdom, you were there! He tried to use you to take control of the country, declaring that you were the Monstre Charmant incarnate! But… you killed him. You died killing him. Didn’t you?”   
“No, that was my mother,” Victorique recounted, looking off to the side. “She took my place and killed him for me. She gave herself to save not only Sauville, but me as well. But if he had his way, that would have indeed been me on that stage.”   
The old man said nothing for a moment, taking pity on Victorique. Befitting a person of his age, he moved slowly around from behind the desk, jumping off of a hidden stool. He was much shorter than Victorique initially believed, only slightly taller than she. He shuffled over to her, and with shaking hands pulled her into a weak embrace, patting her back with reassurance. Victorique was taken aback by this and started to squirm, but relaxed once she realized that the man meant no harm.   
“I am truly sorry for what you have gone through at Albert’s hands,” the old man began, “I can tell that he hurt you, and you are still feeling the effects. Although it was so long ago, I can see that the pain of what you have gone through affects you still.”   
Victorique was not used to being psychoanalyzed like this, and found the ordeal quite annoying. Still, the man’s embrace and voice were strangely soothing, and she did not resist.   
The man pulled himself away, keeping a hand on Victorique’s shoulder. He looked into her eyes and continued speaking.   
“He was a dear friend, he really was. I spent many a late night hour with Albert, and I will always remember him as a great friend. But I cannot condone what he’s done to you. And on his behalf, I am truly sorry. I’ve known him since I was young, and the Albert I knew would never have done such things. I guess power corrupts, doesn’t it?”   
Victorique stared at the old man, her earlier conviction gone. She just stared at him, mouth slightly open, transfixed. Such kindness from an associate of her father was unknown to her.   
The old man returned to the desk, climbing onto the hidden stool and gaining a few feet in the process. He turned back to Grevil.   
“So, what brings you two here today?”   
Grevil pulled The Golden Fairy of the High Tower away from Victorique, who was still frozen in confusion.   
“We need a wig like the one in this picture,” he said, “I know you to be quite the fan of Sauville’s literature, so do you have anything like this?”   
The old man adjusted his glasses again. Scrutinizing the book.   
“You know,” he said, “I always used to make wigs of this color and size well before the Christmas season. The Monstre Charmant used to be quite the popular costume for the holiday festivities. Not so much anymore after what Albert did. Let me see what I can do.”   
The man shuffled into a back room, and was gone for a few minutes.   
During this time, Victorique could do nothing but process in silence the kindness the old man had shown her before.  
Before long, the old man returned, with a large box in tow.  
“Will this do?” he asked.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Cecile waited nervously outside the Saubreme police station. Clutching the package, she looked left and right, hoping that Grevil and Victorique might show up. The night before she had promised Victorique that she would clean her dress and deliver it in Saubreme the next day, but she had never told Victorique where they would meet, so she came to the only place she thought Victorique might be.   
Cecile sighed at her own incompetence. She was only trying to help Victorique by cleaning the dress for her and making sure it was in peak condition for whatever Victorique had planned. She didn’t how Victorique planned to use the dress to outsmart the cult members, but Cecile knew that Victorique needed it badly. How could she screw up something so important?   
She slumped to the ground in defeat, falling over so that she was lying face first and parallel to the ground, allowing the package to fall with her. Her glasses fell off her face and settled a few feet away. People quickened their pace as they passed by her, put off by Cecile’s strange behavior.   
She buried her head in the ground, defeated. She had always only wanted to help people, but always seemed to let them down somehow. She was pathetic.   
Suddenly, she heard a voice.   
“Cecile, why are you lying on the ground?”   
She could have sworn the voice belonged to her mother, long dead. She must have returned from the heavens to scold her failure.   
“Forgive me, my mother,” Cecile spoke to the spirit, “I was given one task, just one! To make this dress presentable for young Victorique in hopes that she might save dear Kujo. But in my endless folly I neglected to tell her where we might meet once the dress was clean. And so, I have failed in my mission, utterly failed! Now Kujo has no hope. He will die and Sauville will fall. Everything will fall because of me. I hope you can forgive your clumsy, failure of a daughter.”   
“Cecile, what’s wrong with you?” the voice responded.   
“I know not! I know not! I’ve always been this way. Clumsy, forgetful, and all around useless. How can I go on knowing what I’ve done? Please forgive me!”   
Cecile was despondent. She expected the spirit to leave in disgust at her failure, but it continued to speak.   
“Cecile, what are you talking about? I’m not your mother!”   
Cecile looked up, and saw a blurry image of a blonde haired maiden. She knew someone like that.   
Cecile reached for her glasses and put them on. Her vision cleared instantly, and before her was Victorique, sporting a head of long, golden hair.   
“Victorique!” Cecile exclaimed in surprise, “You’re here! And your hair! But… But… you cut it all off!”   
“I did,” Victorique said with her arms on her hips in pride, “This is a wig.”   
Victorique lifted her wig a bit, exposing the brown hair underneath.   
“Grevil took me to a shop outside the city, and an old friend of his provided me with this.”   
“Wow,” Cecile said in shock, “You look almost exactly like you did before. How did you find such a perfect wig?”   
“Luckily, this old friend made plenty of these wigs when the Monstre Charmant costume was still popular, and he had one in stock,” said Victorique.   
“And now we are ready to execute Victorique’s plan,” a deeper voice chimed in, “Provided you have the final piece.”   
Grevil towered over Victorique, arms crossed.   
Cecile stood up and grabbed the package, opening it and pulling out its contents. Inside was the Monstre Charmant dress, looking just as it did the day Victorique first wore it.   
“It’s a good thing you came,” said Cecile, “I was worried sick that I wouldn’t be able to find you.”   
“We thought you would be here,” Victorique said with a smile, “There was no need to worry.”   
Victorique took the dress from Cecile and went inside. She used Grevil’s office in order to change. Cecile and Grevil waited anxiously outside the door.   
“So Victorique’s told you her plan then?” Cecile asked Grevil.   
“Most of it,” he said, “she’s left certain details out, but I get the basic gist of what she’s trying to do.”   
“Won’t it be dangerous, infiltrating the cult like this? What if they don’t accept her?”   
Grevil sighed, looking worried.   
“We’ll just have to hope that they do.”   
Just then, the door opened. Victorique emerged, wearing the dress. Cecile was taken aback. Although many years had passed, Victorique looked exactly as she did on the day Cecile had lent the dress to her. The sight brought back many memories. Cecile remembered Victorique and Kujo happily dancing with the other students on that Christmas day. She remembered how ridiculous Kujo looked in his rabbit costume. She remembered how jealous Avril was when she saw Victorique in the Monstre Charmant dress. She remembered how happy they and the other students were to be celebrating the holiday. And she especially remembered how devastated Victorique was when she learned they had taken Kujo away.   
“It’s a little tighter than I remember,” Victorique said, clutching the skirt of her dress as she admired it, “And it was a major pain to get on, but it will do perfectly.”   
Victorique turned then to Cecile.  
“Thank you, Cecile,” she said.  
Cecile was taken aback for a moment, but responded with a smile.   
“Just bring Kujo back to us, that’s all the thanks I need.”  
Victorique then turned to Grevil.   
“Grevil,” she began, “Take me to the king.”


	17. Chapter 17

Clang  
“Ge’ ready ter move, yah shits!”  
Clang  
“Ge’ up ye lazy arseholes!”   
Kujo was already awake. The clanging came from a wrench, struck against the metal cages by a cult member with a less than flattering countryside accent. The dozen other people he was crammed into the cages with jolted at the sudden noise.   
After a short drive from wherever they were previously imprisoned, they had been made to wait for some stretch of time. Kujo did not know exactly how long, the cages he and the others were trapped in were covered with heavy tarps, and the cages were immersed in almost total darkness. Kujo was not even sure if it was daytime or nighttime.   
The tarps were quickly removed from the cages, blinding him and everyone else momentarily. As his eyes slowly adjusted, he could hear a cult member speaking, this time with a more dignified Saubreme accent.   
“Now listen here, everybody. We have no desire to kill anyone.”  
Everything was starting to come into focus. He could barely make out the moon. It was nighttime.   
“But we will not fail to kill anyone who falls out of line.”  
Becoming clearer. He saw streetlamps. They must have been in Saubreme somewhere. The streetlamps must have been what blinded him after so long in the dark.   
“All we need you to do is exit the cages, fall in line, and march towards the palace.”  
His eyes had fully adjusted now, and he could see the cult member who was speaking. Like the others, he wore a rabbit mask. The mask’s cute design might have been somewhat endearing if it weren’t for the M1 Garand that the cult member so keenly made sure could be seen.   
“Do what we ask, and you will live. Fall out of line, and you will be shot. If you make it through this without doing something stupid, you may live to see the birth of a new great nation, a nation ruled by the true and just hand of our lady the Monstre Charmant.”   
There was a silence as the cult member finished his speech.   
“Good! It seems you all understand.”   
The cult member strapped his weapon to his back and began giving instructions, indicating directions with his hands.   
“Form lines of five!” he barked, “Members of our order will flank you on either side. When you hear the command, start moving!”  
The doors to the cages flung open, and people slowly began to make their way out, with cult members pointing the barrels of their weapons at them.   
A cult member waited at the door to each cage, securing a pair of iron shackles to each prisoner’s hands as they left.   
When it was Kujo’s turn, he held out his hands and allowed the shackles to be put on him. Once they were secure, he started to make his way to the line that was forming. As he walked away, he felt a heavy hand descend on his shoulder.   
Kujo turned around and stared into the eye slits of the rabbit masked man who had stopped him.   
“Not you,” the cult member said, “You’re to go with the boss.”   
Kujo’s heart sank. He had almost forgotten the plan Father Francis had set up for him. He was to lead the procession with a gun to his back so Grevil wouldn’t try anything. If something went wrong, he would be shot first. Not exactly an exciting prospect.   
He was escorted to the front of the line, passing the long procession of prisoners and cult members that had started to form. As the M1 Garand brandishing cult member had commanded, the prisoners were filed in lines of five, flanked on either side by cult members equipped with all kinds of weaponry.   
At the front of the line waited Father Francis, dressed in his white robe and his black and gold rabbit mask. The same style of clothing he was wearing when Kujo and Victorique had met him for the first time in the cult’s underground hideout.   
“Why, hello Kiyoshi,” Father Francis said, removing his mask, “Ready for your very special role in our great day of reckoning?”   
Father Francis smiled a foul smile. His lips curled unnaturally, revealing his yellowed teeth.   
“This is a very exciting day indeed Kiyoshi,” said Father Francis, “I do hope it doesn’t end in any bloodshed.”  
Kujo said nothing. Talking to this guy only made more deranged nonsense spill from his mouth.   
Father Francis, clearly annoyed that Kujo didn’t respond, turned away and spoke to his nearby assistants.   
“Prepare him,” he said.   
Two of Father Francis’ assistants, dressed similarly to Francis himself, grabbed Kujo on either side by the shoulders.   
They forced him to his knees, removed his shirt, attached a collar to his throat, and shoved some kind of mask on his head. Kujo could not tell what the mask was, and could only see through tiny slits made for his eyes.   
He tried to stand up, and was met with a sharp pain in his back when he tried to do so. With it came the unmistakable sound of the crack of a whip. He reeled in pain and fell back to his knees from the shock.   
“DOGS. DO NOT. STAND!” Father Francis shrieked in a high pitched wail.   
Dogs? Kujo thought to himself. Am I wearing a dog mask? Why a dog mask? Why does he want me to crawl? This is going to be humiliating.   
Kujo thoughts were interrupted as he heard the sound of a gunshot far behind him.   
“FORWARD!” Father Francis shrieked in the same pitch as before.   
The whip cracked and Kujo once again felt a sharp pain in his back. As humiliating as it was, he knew what this meant. Kujo began to crawl forward on all fours, leading the procession of prisoners towards the royal palace.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Victorique and Grevil stood on a rooftop overlooking the courtyard in front of the royal palace. Nearly the entire Saubreme police force as well as parts of the military had taken positions nearby. Grevil looked down the street approaching the palace through a pair of binoculars, waiting for something to happen.   
Victorique idly played with the skirts of her Monstre Charmant dress, admiring its intricate design to pass the time.   
“Can you stop that?”   
Victorique jolted in surprise, looking at Grevil, who had suddenly snapped at her. The rustling of her dress must have gotten to his already aggravated nerves.   
“Sorry,” she said, “I’m just anxious.”   
Grevil stared at her for a moment with a tense look on his face before finally softening with a sigh.   
“It’s alright. I’m anxious too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”  
“It’s okay.”   
Grevil returned to his binoculars and they said nothing more. Victorique turned to admiring the unusual silence that had descended on the courtyard.   
After a few moments of this, Victorique picked up the fast approaching sound of a man’s heavy panting. Grevil and Victorique turned to see who it could be.   
A policeman climbed the ladder, making his way to the rooftop. He saluted while gasping for air.   
“Chief Inspector De Blois, Sir!” he said, “I’ve come from down the street. We’ve spotted the procession. They are on their way and heavily armed. Expect arrival within minutes.”  
He then left without saying another word, off to report the news to the other units.   
Grevil looked at Victorique, his eyes serious.   
“Quickly Victorique! Get into position!”  
“Not yet.” Victorique said, “I want to see him.”  
“Victorique we don’t have time for this. If you aren’t in position when we need you to be, the plan’s ruined!”  
Victorique turned to Grevil, puffed out her chest, and placed both hands on her hips.   
“I have not seen my husband for days. I’ve had little to no information as to his safety. For all I know he might not even be alive. I have no intention on backing out of the plan. But I at least need to know if he’s alive first!”   
Grevil, taken aback, let out a sigh.   
“Fine,” he said, “I guess I can see where you’re coming from. As soon as you spot him in the crowd, you go. And you go fast. If you don’t see him, he’s either dead, or lost in the crowd. Even if you don’t see him by the time they pass this position, you need to go. When I tell you to go, you go. Do you understand?”  
Victorique nodded. Although she wanted to make sure that Kujo was still alive, she understood the gravity of the situation. More than anything, she wanted Kujo to come out of this alive, but this was bigger than him or her.   
They waited a few more agonizing minutes. During this time, Victorique went over in her head what she would do if she found out Kujo was dead. She didn’t know if she could handle that. If she survived the emotional trauma, she would have no home. She couldn’t live in Japan without him. She didn’t speak the language, she wasn’t officially a citizen, and she refused to let Kujo’s family take care of her after she had failed him. She supposed she could move in with Grevil for a time, perhaps she could start working for the police force as a detective. She would survive.   
Realizing what she was doing, she shook her head and pushed the thought away. She didn’t want that. She wanted Kujo to survive and she wanted to go back to Japan with him. Or stay in Sauville, or go to America for all she cared. It didn’t matter where as long as Kujo was okay.   
“I see them!” Grevil shouted, standing up. Victorique was jolted out of her daze.   
“Let me see!” she demanded as she reached in vain for Grevil’s binoculars. Grevil did not hand them over.  
“Who is that in front? What is he wearing? Why is he crawling?” Grevil wondered aloud.   
All this time, Victorique was trying to snatch the binoculars from him and had to resort to violence.   
Grevil yowled as Victorique kicked him fiercely in the shins.   
“Okay Okay fine here you go,” Grevil said as he handed her the binoculars.   
She looked through them, looking desperately for Kujo. She scanned the crowd of prisoners, surrounded on all sides by rabbit mask wearing cult members. Their faces were downtrodden and their arms shackled. They all looked the same. Kujo should stand out among a crowd of Sauvillians!   
Then a sudden movement caught her eye, accompanied by the staccato crack of a whip. The cult member holding it was dressed in a white robe and a black mask with gold embroidery.   
Francis.   
In one hand he held the whip that had caught her attention, and in the other… a leash?   
Confused, Victorique followed the leash with the binoculars, and saw it attached to the neck of a shirtless man wearing a mask, leading the procession on all fours. She knew his physique and the color of his skin anywhere. It was Kujo. She felt anger burst out from within her. How could they humiliate her husband in that way? For what purpose?   
“It’s Kujo in the front,” she said to Grevil through clenched teeth.   
“What?” Grevil said in shock. He then turned to a nearby officer, “Lieutenant, let me borrow your binoculars.”   
Looking through binoculars now, Grevil joined the conversation.   
“By God. That is Kujo. What they hell are they making him do? Why?”  
“Wait a minute,” Victorique said, noticing a new detail, “Look at the mask. I didn’t notice it before, but look who it’s supposed to be.”   
Grevil studied the mask Kujo was wearing for a moment before coming to the same realization.   
“Oh my god. You’re right. That’s the king!”   
There was no mistaking it. Once you realized who it was supposed to be, it was clear the mask Kujo was wearing was meant to resemble King Rupert de Gilet, the king of Sauville. But on closer inspection, it was a mask of Rupert de Gilet with a pair of floppy dog ears hanging from either side. The cult members had turned Kujo into a grotesque political statement.   
If it had been anyone but Kujo, Victorique would have simply been shocked, but the fact that it was Kujo they were humiliating brought a primal rage that Victorique had never felt before.   
“We are not going to let those bastards win,” she said, “I’m going to get into position. Remember the plan.”  
She was off before Grevil could say a word.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kujo was tired.   
He had been made to crawl for what seemed like hours down Saubreme’s main street. His knees were cut open and his back screamed from the pain of Father Francis’ whip. His muscles ached from moving in such an awkward position, but when he slowed too much, he was met with a fury of lashes from the whip along with Francis’ deranged screeching.   
If it hadn’t been for his experiences in the war, he might have called it hell.   
To endure the pain, he employed a trick he had learned in the war. If he told himself he was enduring the pain for Victorique, he could motivate himself to keep moving. That’s what he did during the war while the officers were beating him. He told himself to just endure the pain so that he could see Victorique again. This didn’t make the pain go away, but it put him in a trance that gave him the energy to keep going. It worked in the war, and it worked here too. Although he told himself he was enduring the pain for Victorique’s sake, he wasn’t sure if he would actually see her again. Just like the war.   
“HALT!” Father Francis screeched, bringing the whip down on Kujo’s back one last time.   
The pain shook Kujo’s body as he complied with Francis’ command. They must have reached the palace.   
Kujo looked through the slits in his mask, trying to figure out what was going on. Before him was the palace, illuminated brilliantly in the night by electric lighting, but no one was around. Father Francis suddenly entered his vision, leash in hand.   
“Come now little dog,” he said with a grin, you can walk now.”  
Hoping it wasn’t a trick, Kujo tried to get to his feet. As he pushed his way off the ground, his muscles trembled and he fell to his knees. After crawling some distance under terrible conditions, his legs seemed to have forgotten how to walk.   
Father Francis let out a disappointed sigh.   
“Someone help him,” he said, “I can’t be bothered to wait for him to crawl any longer.”   
Kujo felt himself being helped up on both sides by men he could not see. They supported him as he tried to hop his way after Father Francis, who was making his way closer to the palace.   
Where are Victorique and Grevil? Kujo wondered to himself. Do they have some kind of plan? At this rate, the cult is going to seize the palace.   
As Kujo thought this, the lights illuminating the palace were shut off.  
People screamed in fear that the cult members would start shooting, but no weapons were fired.   
Light returned to the palace in the form of a lone spotlight, focused on the palace doors. They opened.   
A woman in a violet dress exited the building, closing the door behind her. The color of the dress and the woman’s physique were familiar to Kujo. And as she walked away from the doors and towards the procession, it didn’t take him long to figure out who she was.   
It was Victorique, and she was wearing the Monstre Charmant dress. Her long, golden fall of hair had returned, and happy memories of her wearing that dress flashed before his eyes as they filled with tears.   
Victorique crossed her arms, illuminated by the spotlight. She directed her fierce gaze around the courtyard, digging it into each and every cult member like the jaws of a wolf.   
“You have done well, my rabbits,” Victorique began.  
The deep tenor pitch of her voice reverberated throughout the crowd. The intensity with which she spoke brought chills to Kujo’s spine.   
“Welcome, my rabbits,” Victorique continued, “Welcome to the day of reckoning. The day in which all of my followers shall finally have what they deserve!”  
Kujo glanced at Father Francis. As the cult leader stood there dumbstruck, a quivering hand rose from his side and removed his black rabbit mask. Kujo returned his attention to Victorique.   
“For you are the disciples of the one true god. What are gods such as the Virgin Mary? Jesus Christ? The Christian God? The ones who follow those gods have never truly seen them. But I? I am a different story. Here I stand before you, my loyal followers. The Monstre Charmant in the flesh. Can followers of the other gods say the same? That they have seen their god? That their god has stood before them? They cannot. But you, my rabbits, you can say for sure that your god exists. Because here she is.”   
Father Francis fell to his knees and began to weep. It seemed that he had bought Victorique’s ruse.   
“For believing unwaveringly in the one true god, you should be proud. And for your loyal service and your resolute faith in me, you shall all be rewarded handsomely.”  
A murmur broke out among the cult members. Kujo, knowing the truth, wondered if they were buying it.   
“I have come to Earth from the heavens and have taken on this fleshen form to lead you all to a glorious future, much like the false god Jesus Christ was said to have done. Under my guidance, not only will we conquer Sauville, we will go on to conquer Europe, we will go on to conquer the world. Soon the one true religion, that of the Monstre Charmant, will be practiced by millions, and the infidels will be strung up by their insides!”   
This seemed to get the cultists’ attention. At the mention of conquering the world and murdering the infidels, a roar erupted from the crowd along with cheers of “Vive le Monstre Charmant!”   
As Father Francis wept and the cult members cheered, Kujo stared through his mask in awe at his wife. She smirked with an almost evil grin at her success. It seemed that whatever plan she had in mind had worked.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Victorique stood smirking at the crowd of her loyal followers. Her plan had worked. Her resemblance to the Monstre Charmant legend and a few choice words had gained her control of a mob of crazed religious fanatics. She could not help but feel immensely powerful, like she could actually conquer the world. In that moment, Victorique almost understood why some men went mad with power and used it to do terrible things. But she would not succumb to such temptations. She would use her newfound power to turn the tide in her favor.   
She raised both hands in the air to signal the cheers to stop.   
“But we have not yet taken Sauville. That is the first step. Without control of Sauville, we are nothing. Follow me, my rabbits. Follow me and we shall seize the palace, and to signify our rule, we shall remove King Rupert’s head!”   
The cheers returned at the mention of this. A river of cult members began to make their way towards the palace to carry out the plan. Victorique smirked again.   
The plan was to lure the cultists into the palace, from which King Rupert and Sauville’s political leaders had already escaped. Once inside the castle Victorique would convince the cult members to place the hostages in a separate room under light guard, where they would be rescued by the Sauville military. The cult members would then be brought to another room to discuss their next step, only to be apprehended by the Saubreme police.   
The plan was going swimmingly.   
“Wait!” Father Francis suddenly cried out.   
The river of cultists stopped in their tracks. Victorique shuddered.   
“I am overjoyed to finally meet our divine lady in the flesh,” Father Francis said as he gestured respectfully to Victorique, “And I am just elated to begin our glorious conquest of Sauville and the world. But I think in light of the return of our divine lady, we should forgo all of that for a moment and take some time to celebrate, don’t you?”   
A murmur rose among the cult members as a sea of rabbit masks started to bob up and down in approval.   
“That’s what I thought,” said Father Francis with a grin, “Bring him to me.”  
Father Francis extended a finger at Kujo, still shirtless and wearing the mask of King Rupert. The two heavily armed cult members guarding him brought Kujo to Father Francis and forced him to kneel. He was less than ten feet from where Victorique was standing.   
Without thinking, Victorique brought her hands to her mouth with worry. What did Father Francis have planned for him?   
“This one here is a traitor. This one came to us some days ago seeking to join our honorable organization. But when the time came to prove himself to our order, when I asked him to kill an infidel, he faltered, forever demonstrating that he lacked the required faith in the divine lady. For this, he must die.”  
A cheer roared from the crowd as a thousand hands clutching all kinds of weapons rose into the air. The cult wanted Kujo dead.   
Victorique began to panic. She struggled to maintain her composure as the cult members called for Kujo’s blood. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. The cult members were supposed to follow her into the palace where they would be apprehended. She never expected this to happen.   
As the crowd screamed various things such as ‘death to the infidel’ and ‘long live the Monstre Charmant’, Victorique looked in all directions in a panic. Her eyes eventually settled on Kujo. She could see his eyes underneath the grotesque mask of King Rupert. They stared directly at her, begging her to do something. For a brief, terrible moment, Victorique felt as if those eyes were blaming her. Blaming her for the situation he was in and her inability to do anything to help him.   
“As a message to any who stand against us, to the infidels and world leaders alike, the sacrifice of this traitor will serve as a warning to any who stand in our way.”  
Victorique stood there, rendered motionless. Her mind raced trying to find a way to save Kujo’s life. For the first time in a long time, the fountain of wisdom she had relied on for so long was of no help to her.   
“Firing squad!” Father Francis commanded.   
A group of cult members emerged from the crowd, their weapons drawn. They took their places a few steps from Kujo and pointed their weapons at him.   
“On my command!”   
Victorique could no longer keep up the façade. She felt helpless and she panicked.  
“W-w-w-w-we do not need this one to die,” she said, “There are other ways to send a message to the infidels.”  
But Father Francis did not hear her. He was too caught up in the excitement of sentencing Kujo to death. He began to count.  
“Five!”  
Victorique saw Kujo shut his eyes.  
“Four!”  
The crowd of lunatics cheered.  
“Three!”  
The executioners took aim.  
“Two!”  
“Grevil! Do Something!” Victorique screamed at the top of her lungs.   
“One!”   
The lights went out.   
“Fire!”  
And the courtyard erupted with gunfire.


	18. Chapter 18

Screams.   
Victorique could hear nothing but screams.   
Men screamed, women screamed, children screamed.   
With the screaming came gunfire, lashing out in short bursts and from every direction. With the lights out, Victorique could not tell where the gunfire was coming from or who was firing at who.   
But she didn’t care.   
It did not matter to her who was screaming, who was firing, who was dying. She cared only for one thing. For one person.   
Victorique did not know if Kujo was alive. When the lights had gone out, presumably cut off from power by the police, she did not see Kujo fall. She didn’t see him fall but neither did she see him survive. Her knowledge of whether or not Kujo was still alive was in question. The part of her brain dedicated to him was in some kind of limbo. She did not know if he was alive or if he had been killed. The result was a tangle of complicated emotions, and she didn’t know what exactly she should feel.   
This strange knot of emotions she found herself swept up in left her motionless. Even amid the screaming, the gunfire, and the chaos. She was frozen. She didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t sure if she was living in a world without Kujo or not, and she didn’t know how to respond to that.   
Suddenly, a pair of heavy hands descended on her shoulders, jolting her out of her trance.   
Recognizing a possible threat, Victorique squirmed to escape the grasp of the pair of hands. But to no avail, they were too strong.   
The pair of hands lifted her off the ground without much effort due to her light weight. The hands made their way to her legs, and she was flung over her captor’s shoulder. She had already given up fighting the pair of hands. What was the point in a world without him? The hands were too strong for her anyway.   
The owner of the hands began to jog. Victorique’s body flopped up and down with her captor’s strides. Her captor must have been running at high speed, but Victorique felt her body move with her captor’s at a slowed pace. It was as if she and her kidnapper were engulfed in jelly.   
Her captor ran for a time, and Victorique indifferently went along with it. That was until he began to fall. Victorique fell too, just as apathetically as she was captured. She consciously realized that she was falling with her captor, but did not actively process that fact. That was until her head hit the ground.   
A piercing ringing filled Victorique’s head. She cried out in pain as she grasped at her skull. The sudden impact with the ground brought Victorique out of her stupor. Suddenly, she was no longer encased in jelly. She no longer found herself in a state of limbo. While she still worried for Kujo, everything was clear now. The shock of colliding with the ground had knocked her out of her daze.   
She wanted to go back to her daze. Her head hurt, and her ears rang annoyingly, but she had been knocked back to her senses. She found that the world she had come from, the world of confusion and uncertainty was far preferable to the hell she found herself in now.   
She heard the screams of the terrified and of the dying. The roar of gunfire from all kinds of weaponry. The maniacal cackling of religious zealots. She had never been more scared in her life.   
Her eyes had adjusted now and she could see more clearly. Fallen next to her was a man clad in what she could tell was a military uniform. She could not tell if he was dead or seriously injured. But he was probably dead. It dawned on her that this man was the owner of the hands. This man had tried to save her when the fighting had broken out. She lamented his loss.   
It was too dark to see his face. She wished she could see his face. So she could know and remember the man who had died saving her. She realized that this was no time to dawdle. She had to move if she wanted to survive.   
Victorique’s senses had returned to her, and with them her fountain of wisdom. She kept her head low and tried to maintain a low profile. If a cult member noticed her they would surely try to execute her. Her genius mind raced trying to figure out how to get out of her situation alive.   
She hid herself behind a bench. She then looked in all directions, searching for an escape route. She identified many different directions she could go, but she could not get herself to leave the safety of the bench for fear of getting shot.   
Just then, a different man in a military uniform showed up beside her. He had dived expertly into the cover of the park bench to speak with Victorique.   
“Are you Victorique Kujo?” he cried over the roar of gunfire.   
“Yes!” she cried back.   
“We need to get you to safety,” the military man replied, “We’re trying to get as many civilians out as we can while we neutralize the enemy, and you were ordered a top priority by the king.”   
“Okay,” Victorique shouted, confirming that she was listening.   
“We have a car waiting just outside the courtyard. It will take you to safety. Do you see the road behind us?”   
The military man motioned to a street directly behind them.   
Victorique nodded.   
“I will provide covering fire while you make your way down that street. Take the first left, and the car will be waiting for you. Stay low, and move quickly. Do you understand?”   
“Yes. Thank you.” Victorique confirmed.   
“On my mark. 3. 2. 1. Go!”  
Victorique started to run. She kept her head as low as she could while still maintaining a brisk pace. The soldier behind her began firing, trying to keep her safe.   
She ran as fast as she could down the street the soldier had pointed out. The first left he had mentioned was in sight. If she could make it to that street, she could escape this hell. She ran and the street got closer and closer.   
She was almost to the side street when of its own accord her body stopped in its tracks. A lone cult member with a bruised and battered rabbit mask emerged from the side street to her right. He must have been looking for any hostages trying to escape. He noticed her immediately and pointed his weapon at her.   
Victorique knew she should do something. She knew she should run and save herself, but she could not. She was completely frozen with fear.   
A flash of light came from the barrel of the cult member’s gun, and she felt a sharp pain erupt from her abdomen. At first it felt like a bee sting, not quite as painful as you would expect. And then came an intense, aching pain followed shortly by an overwhelming numbness. She collapsed to the ground as she lost all feeling in her lower body.   
Lying on her stomach, her consciousness began to fade rapidly. At first she felt sick, like she was going to vomit. But that feeling faded as the world around her grew more and more cloudy. She was acutely aware of some distant voices as someone lifted her up.   
“She’s been hit. Someone get the medics!”  
“She’s losing blood. Keep pressure on the entry point!”  
The voices grew more and more distant. She was slipping into a semi-unconscious state, only passively aware of what was going on around her. She was only processing bits and pieces of what the voices were saying.   
“What’s the status on the-”  
“Medical emergency I repeat we have-”  
Victorique felt as if she were falling. Falling into an endless dark abyss of nothingness. She continued to fall as the voices became harder and harder to decipher. She fell endlessly before drifting away.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Light.   
Blinding light.   
The light overwhelmed her senses as her eyes opened of their own accord. She could hear the incessant ticking of a clock as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.   
As she came to her senses, her head throbbed in time with the ticking of the clock. Her eyes had adjusted and she could see a sterile, white ceiling. She tried to sit up and was met only with a sharp pain in her lower body. The pain convinced her to stay where she was.   
She surveyed the room from left to right. She was alone. She determined that she was in a hospital bed. That would explain the boring sterile whiteness of the walls and the tubes coming out of her arm. Why was she in a hospital bed?   
Almost as soon as she wondered why she was there, a flurry of memories returned to her. She remembered standing in front of the crowd of cultists, she remembered the bullet she had taken, she remembered the soldier who had died for her, she remembered Father Francis’ crazed expression as he ordered Kujo’s death, she remembered the lights going out.   
“Kujo!” she cried as she quickly sat up, sending the bedsheets flying. She was met with a screaming pain from her abdomen as she did so.   
Was Kujo alive? What happened that night? Was Sauville under the rule of an insane religious sect? How long had she been out?  
Questions like these raced through her mind as her lethargic brain caught up with everything that had happened.   
She had to find Kujo. She had to determine if he had survived.   
She began to tear at the tubes in her arm, trying to find a way to rip them out. The pain was considerable and her arm screamed in protest, but that didn’t matter to her. She had to go see if Kujo was alive, and the tubes were in her way.   
As she struggled with the tubes, the door to the room began to open. She stopped and stared at the opening door, still tugging at the tubes.   
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said a tall figure with long, golden hair, “After all, those tubes are keeping you alive.”  
“Grevil.” Victorique said, still clutching the tubes.   
“Why hello, dear sister,” Grevil said, taking a chair and moving it closer to her bed, “How are we feeling today?”  
“I don’t know. Fine I guess. Slightly disoriented. But that’s not what’s important. Where’s Kujo? Is he alive?”  
“He’s alive. And so are you.”   
Victorique released the tension that had built up in all of her muscles. She allowed herself to lay back, allowing a pillow to support her so she could sit up in bed. She could hardly believe it, but he was alive. She had almost convinced herself that he hadn’t survived. Ever since she heard the first gunshots, she was subconsciously preparing herself for the news that Kujo had died.   
She closed her eyes and silently gave thanks to whatever deity would listen.   
“Where is he?” she asked, “Is he well?”  
“He’s recovering in a separate room,” Grevil responded, “I wouldn’t say he’s exactly well. Like you, he took a bullet or two, but he’ll be alright.”   
“I need to see him.”  
“Victorique, I understand that you want to see him, but first there’s something you should-”  
“I want. To see him.” Victorique demanded, giving Grevil the fiercest look she could manage.   
Grevil let out a long suffering sigh.   
“Okay. Let me get the nurses to arrange that. He’s in slightly better condition than you are, so I’ll have him come to you.”  
Grevil stood up and left the room, leaving Victorique to her thoughts.   
While she was alone, Victorique reflected on what had happened. She had been separated from Kujo, spent days not knowing whether or not he was okay, and was hospitalized from a gunshot wound in the process of trying to save him.   
It was not how she expected her honeymoon would go.   
The door opened with a creak, interrupting her thoughts. Victorique jumped in surprise, her abdomen screaming again. She heard the rhythmic thud of something touching the ground, being lifted up, and then placed on the ground again. As the door creaked all the way open, she saw Kujo’s smiling face. His head was wrapped in bandages. They completely covered half of his face, obscuring one eye and cutting his face diagonally in half. He also had a cane, leaning on it slightly for support. He gave her a wave and chuckled in the special way he did.   
Victorique began sobbing almost immediately.   
Unable to speak through her tears, she motioned for him to come closer. He complied, using his cane to waddle his way over to her.   
He set down his cane, sat in the chair Grevil had placed next to the bed, and lay his head on Victorique’s chest. She wrapped her arms around his head, straddling him like a newborn child.   
“I… I… thought… I’d…” she said between sobs.   
“I know,” said Kujo, understanding what she was trying to say, “But you did. You did see me again. Here I am.”  
Victorique continued to sob. She cried like she never had before. With the tears came a torrent of complicated emotions. The stress and pain of the time she spent without him were released all at once, mixed with the pure joy of having him in her arms again. What resulted was a strange mix of anguish and delight.  
They stayed like that for a time, taking in the other’s warmth that a few days prior the both of them thought they might never feel again.   
After a time, Victorique’s sobbing gradually stopped, and the two sat silently in each other’s arms.  
For a while, this was enough. The pair were perfectly content to sit in each other’s arms for eternity, holding onto what they thought they’d lost. But after a while, this was not enough for Victorique.   
She removed her arms delicately from Kujo’s head. He looked up sharply, his visible eye probing her for a reason. She took her right hand and gently touched the bottom of Kujo’s chin, lifting it up. He had gotten the message.   
Victorique was hooked up to a lot of medical equipment, and couldn’t really move much, so Kujo did for her. He leaned in to kiss her. Victorique moved her hand to the side of his face as he did so.   
Their lips met, resting gingerly on each other. As a married couple, they had shared many kisses before. But only once before had they shared a kiss like this. It was the kind of kiss that only a couple in their position could have shared. The kiss that they never thought would come. The kiss that a couple shared when they had beaten all the odds. The kiss of an unlikely reunion.   
It was exactly like their first kiss. The kiss they had shared shortly after Kujo returned from the war.   
After a long while relishing their kiss, Kujo pulled away. Victorique wished he hadn’t, but they couldn’t very well sit like that forever.   
As he pulled away, Victorique noticed Kujo’s uncharacteristically serious face.   
“What’s wrong?” she asked, knowing that he had something to say.   
“Victorique,” he said, “I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but there’s something you should know.”  
Victorique said nothing, waiting for him to continue. The look on his face scared her.   
“That bullet you took. The one a cult member shot into you right before you were rescued by the police. You took it in the lower abdomen. It did some damage.”  
Victorique was silent for a moment. She wondered where this was going. She could tell it wasn’t going anywhere good.   
“What kind of damage?” Victorique asked, prompting him to go on.   
“The bullet punctured your uterus. It did a lot of damage internally. Apparently you were losing a lot of blood.”   
Victorique held her breath. She finally understood where this was going.   
Kujo took Victorique’s hand and looked her in the eyes, trying to soften the blow as much as he could.   
“They were forced to remove it. You won’t ever be able to have children.”   
It was just a handful of words. Just a handful of words that Kujo said in a rather matter of fact way. That handful of words brought a reaction from Victorique that she didn’t quite expect.   
She was never sure if she really wanted kids. She wanted to raise children with Kujo of course, but she was never completely sure if that’s what she wanted out of her marriage with him. But now that she heard the news that she was infertile, a strange, primal sorrow erupted from her belly. She couldn’t quite explain why, but although she had never decided if she really wanted children or not, now that she was unable to she couldn’t help but feel extremely distressed. It must have been the natural reaction to learning such a terrible thing.   
She tried to be strong.   
“That makes me sad,” she said, “But it doesn’t matter. All I wanted was to be reunited with you. There are other ways to raise kids. The fact that I have you back is all that really matters to me.”  
She put on the brightest smile she could muster, trying to convince herself and Kujo that she was okay with losing her fertility. In reality, she knew that this news would affect her for some time.   
Kujo gave a melancholy half smile. He knew her well enough to know that she wasn’t okay with losing her ability to reproduce. But there was nothing to be done about it.   
He thought better about discussing it further.   
“That’s not all,” he said, breaking a short silence, “I’ve been injured too.”  
He began to unwrap the bandages splitting his face in half. It took him some time to remove them. The bandages fell to the ground as he took them off.   
He revealed his previously covered eye, swollen shut and bleeding slightly.   
Victorique brought her hands to her lips in shock.   
“Shortly after Father Francis ordered me dead, the lights went out, you remember?”   
Victorique nodded, her hands still clasped at her mouth.   
“Well, Grevil told me that the military had snipers in position. They took out the men who were about the execute me, and then the fighting began.”  
Victorique shuddered as she remembered her version of the events Kujo was describing.   
“Well, when I heard the gunshots and realized I wasn’t dead, I tried to make my escape. In the darkness and confusion I couldn’t see anything. None of us could. I made my way the best I could towards the palace, figuring that was the safest place to be. I don’t know who did it. It could have been a cult member, could have been a hostage, could have been one of the Sauville military, but someone slammed what felt like the butt of a weapon right into my eye. It was a complete accident, but it might cost me my eye.”  
Victorique began to tear up. The knowledge of her infertility and the fact that her husband might lose part of his sight was too much for her to bear.   
“I felt the impact, but since I couldn’t see anything anyway, I wasn’t sure how bad the damage was until the doctors told me. They aren’t sure quite yet, but it’s quite likely that I’ll lose this eye.”  
Victorique could no longer hold the tears back. They began to flow freely. Seeing her like this and feeling the same emotions she was, tears began to flow from Kujo’s eye as well.   
“Oh Kujo,” Victorique sobbed, “Oh my sweet Kujo, come here.”  
She beckoned for him to come, stretching her arms out for him.   
He fell into her body, wrapping his arms around her. Victorique’s wounds hurt a little from Kujo’s embrace, but she didn’t care.   
The two spent a long while like that. Shifting between weeping and laughing as they delighted in their reunion and lamented what they had lost.   
There could not have been a more bittersweet moment.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Victorique and Kujo spent another few weeks in the hospital recovering from their injuries. Many people came to visit them during that time. Grevil, Cecile, and everyone they knew who could visit came to see them and wish them well. Even the king himself came to thank them for protecting the country. The only old friend who could not come to see them in the hospital was Avril, who was far away in England.   
They spent that time recovering both physically and emotionally. Grevil and Cecile’s regular visits helped the both of them get through it. Cecile was beside herself with grief at the knowledge that Victorique could no longer carry a child. She was equally distressed to learn that Kujo had lost part of his sight, as his eye eventually had to be removed. During their visits, Cecile talked at length about the state of the school, telling them that they should visit St. Marguerite Academy one last time before they left.   
Grevil filled in the gaps in their knowledge regarding the battle that had taken place in Saubreme on the night when both of them were injured. The military started by taking out the men who were going to execute Kujo, and the fighting from then on was chaotic. Scores of cult members, hostages, and military and police men alike were lost in the confused fighting. But in the end, the cult members were all either killed or driven away. Father Francis’ body was never found. He was assumed to have escaped. Victorique asked Grevil about the man who had saved her life, but he knew nothing. It was impossible to tell who exactly had saved her when so many died in the fighting.   
Kujo was surprised to see that Pierre, the boy he had befriended while he was in captivity came to visit them. Pierre was shocked to learn that Kujo’s name wasn’t really Kiyoshi, but both he and Kujo were delighted to see that the other had survived. They made a promise to each other to meet up again in the future.   
By the time their recovery phase was over, Victorique and Kujo were ready to return home to Japan. Their physical injuries were mostly healed, and their psychological ones had improved, but would take a bit more time to recover completely. All they wanted to do at that moment was go home and forget about the horrors they had gone through. But there was one thing left to do.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Victorique stared at the great library. It was the tallest building for miles. Its figure stood majestically against the splendor of the Sauvillian Alps.   
She remembered the years she had spent locked up in the library. At times, she hated that library because even though she was surrounded by all the books she could ever want to read, she was not allowed to leave it.   
But she grew to love that library. Ever since the day that clumsy, shaggy haired mess of a boy climbed the stairs for her, promptly running away with fear, the library had become a very special place to her.   
At first, she thought little of the boy. She didn’t hide from him like she did most people, but at the time, she only had a passing interest in him. She didn’t expect that the boy would come back day after day, but he did. The boy climbed the tower’s many stairs each day, he climbed them just to see her. He brought cases for her to solve, he brought candy for her to try. He brought stories with him from outside, stories of what he did that day with the farting newt Avril Bradley. He amused her. He filled the bottomless hole that was her boredom.   
But soon, it was no longer about the cases, the candy, the stories. She wouldn’t have told him, but it was about the boy. When he came, sure she looked forward to the new case and the candy he was likely to bring, but things like that were only a bonus. She really wanted to see the boy. She wanted to go outside and explore with him, to solve cases with him. She wanted to read underneath a tree while he sat in it and stubbornly refused to shut up. She wanted to sit quietly with him in the library, reading something technical while he read whatever had been sent to him from Japan. She wanted to see the only person she could reasonably call a friend. It took her a long time, but she had learned to love that boy.   
All of this happened because of the great library.   
The boy stood next to her now, looking slightly more grown up and sporting an eye patch. He looked at the library just as nostalgically as she. It was a very special place to them both.   
“Ready to go?” the boy asked her.   
“No.” She replied.   
She knew that they had a boat to catch, but she didn’t want to leave the library. It was too important to her.   
They stood for a while longer, taking in the library and recalling the many fond memories that came with its image.   
“Okay,” she said, “We can go now. We’ll be back someday.”  
She took the boy’s hand. She squeezed it tightly, promising herself to never let go of it again.   
Hand in hand, the pair began to walk. They walked away from the place where they had met. They walked away from the place where it had all started. They began to walk towards their future.   
And they’ll go on forevermore.   
The End


	19. Epilogue

Japan, Summer of 1938.   
Victorique sat on the living room floor of her home comforting a crying child. His head was buried deep in her bosom and she could only just make out his muffled cries.   
“Mommy! Emiko made me fall! Why did she do that? It isn’t fair!”   
Victorique gave the boy the kindest smile she could muster.   
“Now I’m sure she didn’t mean it,” Victorique said as she stroked the boy’s hair, “You’ll be okay.”  
“I won’t be okay!” the boy protested, “When I fell it really hurt!”  
Victorique continued to stroke the boy’s hair, trying her best to get him to calm down.   
“Why don’t you tell me what happened, Dominique?”   
The boy, recognizing his chance to get his big sister in trouble, removed his face from Victorique’s chest. His eyes still glistened with tears.   
“We were playing tag and then I got her and then I said she was out but she said she wasn’t out so I said she was out because I tagged her and then she said I was stupid and then I said she was stupid and then she pushed me and then I pushed her back and then she pushed me back harder and then I fell to the ground and then she ran away and then…”   
Victorique sighed as she began to tune him out. Six years of parenthood had taught her to tune out her kids when they went on and on about something unimportant. As much as she loved both of her children, the day to day struggle of raising them could be extraordinarily tiresome. She tried to think of a way to get him to stop his babbling.   
“…And I don’t think she should be allowed to do that cause the rules say when you’re tagged you’re-”  
“Dominique.”   
The boy stopped his chattering and looked up at her, surprised that he had been cut off. He looked at her expectantly.  
“I understand you’re upset,” she began, “But going on and on like this about something that is already done isn’t going to change anything. You may be angry that Emiko pushed you, but what’s done is done. All we can worry about now is doing something so that it doesn’t happen again, so that you two can play together nicely in the future.”  
Dominique stared at her blankly. Victorique could tell that he was confused.   
“But she pushed me.”   
Dominique stated this flatly, as if the statement alone gave him cause to be angry.   
Victorique sighed once again and brought Dominique back to her, allowing him to rest his head on her chest.   
She had hoped the boy would understand the lesson she was trying to teach him, that it’s no use worrying about things that have already happened. That he should worry more about how to avoid such a problem in the future rather than dwell on what had happened to him.   
But of course, a boy of only five wouldn’t understand. To him, the fact of the matter was that he had been pushed, and that’s not fair.   
She would try to teach him this lesson another time.   
“Listen here, Dominique,” she said, weaving his hair softly through her fingers, “I’ll go talk to Emiko. I’ll ask her to apologize. Will you play with your sister again if she apologizes to you?”  
Dominique nodded wordlessly, it seemed he was in agreement that this was fair.   
“But listen here,” Victorique said, her tone sterner than before.   
The boy looked up from her chest, wondering if he was somehow in trouble.   
“I know she pushed you first, but you pushed her back. I commend you for defending yourself, but Emiko is probably upset too. I want you to apologize to her, okay?”  
Dominique opened his mouth to protest, but recoiled when Victorique gave him a reprimanding look.   
He turned his head toward the ground, accepting his fate.   
“Okay…” he mumbled reluctantly.   
Successful, Victorique picked up her son and removed him from her lap.   
“That’s my boy,” Victorique said as she stood up, nuzzling the top of Dominique’s head with one of her hands, “Run along now, I’m going to go talk to her.”   
The boy nodded and turned around, running outside to play once again.   
Victorique could not help but chuckle to herself. When she had set off on this journey, she had not realized that the struggles of parenthood would be so rigorous.   
She walked up the stairs to the second floor, where Emiko was likely to be. Every time she and Dominique had a fight, Emiko promptly ran into her room and slammed the door.   
Victorique made her way to Emiko’s room and was surprised to see that the door was open.   
Peeking into the room, her daughter lay on her bed with her face stuffed in a pillow. Kujo sat next to her, gently rubbing her back.   
Victorique stood watching them for a moment. She thanked the gods that the love between her husband and her daughter was so pure, even in moments like these.   
“How’s she doing?” she asked Kujo.   
Unlike when they had met, Victorique used Japanese to speak to Kujo these days. After many years of practice and first hand exposure to the language, she had all but mastered it. Speaking to Kujo and Emiko, she preferred to use Japanese, given the two’s shared heritage. Speaking to Dominique, she usually used French in order to remind him of the country both he and Victorique had come from. Despite this, the entire family was completely bilingual, and would switch between the two tongues often.  
Hearing Victorique’s voice, Kujo turned to smile at her.   
“She’s doing okay. Just a little upset. We talked a little, and I think she’ll be okay.”  
“Good,” Victorique said, placing her hands on her hips in satisfaction, “Can you go watch Dominique? He’s playing outside. I’ll talk to her for a bit.”  
Kujo nodded and left without another word. While Victorique talked to Emiko, he would go and comfort Dominique for a while.   
“Hey champ,” Victorique began, using the softest tone she could, “I heard you and Dominique had a bit of a scrap?”  
Emiko was silent for a moment.   
“…Yeah.”   
Her voice was muffled by the pillow.   
“Do you want to talk about it?” Victorique prodded.   
“Not really.”  
“Did you talk about it already with your dad?”  
“Yeah.”  
Hearing this, Victorique knew exactly what to do next. When Emiko didn’t want to talk about something, especially when it was something she did wrong, it helped to get her to talk about what had happened from someone else’s point of view. That way, she wouldn’t feel responsible.   
“What did your dad say to you?”  
A moment’s pause.   
“…He said I can’t hit my little brother cause he’s my little brother.”   
“…Ah.” Victorique responded in understanding.   
She knew now that there was nothing more she could do to comfort Emiko. Kujo had already done that for her. Emiko and Dominique had had many scraps like this one in the past, and every time Kujo and Victorique would tell their children that they cannot beat up on each other, because the bond between them as siblings has to be one of the strongest bonds they’ll ever know.   
What Emiko needed now was some time alone.   
“Okay Emi,” Victorique said, using the pet name she had chosen for her daughter, “Let us know if you need anything.”   
“Okay.”  
“Make sure you apologize to your brother later.”  
“I will.”  
Victorique closed the door.   
Just outside the closed door, Victorique mused at this encounter. So little had been said, and yet a wealth of understanding had been transferred between her and her daughter. Victorique knew from the few words she and Emiko had exchanged that she was okay, she understood what she had done wrong, and simply needed some time alone. She found that the art of parenting shared many parallels with her days doing detective work for Grevil. She rarely did such things anymore, as she did not have the time. Still it surprised Victorique just how much she could put her fountain of wisdom to good use when it came to caring for her children. With it, she could solve disputes between them, deduce how they felt about something, and determine exactly what they needed from her before they even asked.   
It was nice, knowing that something she had used to thwart the plans of many horrible people could be used instead for something much more pure.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
A few hours had passed. Dominique and Emiko were long since asleep, and Victorique found herself seated on the grass in front of her home.   
Next to her sat Kujo. The love of her life. Her reason for being. Her loyal friend.   
She clutched his hand tightly in her own as they sat in silence, gazing together in awe at the symphony of the night sky.   
The pair sat silently, speaking not a word to each other. It was not the kind of silence that comes from sitting with a stranger. It was a comfortable silence, an affectionate silence. The two could sit for hours, enjoying each other’s presence as they took in the wondrous light of a billion stars.   
“Quite a handful, those two.”  
Victorique looked to her right, where Kujo was sitting. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t just a little bit irritated that he had spoiled such a wonderfully quiet moment by speaking.   
But it was okay.   
“Could it be that you regret adopting them?” she replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.   
Kujo chuckled a little.   
“You know that’s not true.”  
The silence returned for a moment as the two took in more of the sky.   
This time, Victorique interrupted the silence.   
“Do you remember when we first adopted Emiko?”  
“Of course,” Kujo replied, “We talked it over for hours. Whether or not we were ready to be parents. Whether or not we could face the challenges it would bring. I remember how happy you were when we brought her home.”  
“Me? And what about you?” Victorique teased, “You would play with her for hours. I practically had to force her out of your arms to get to spend some time with her.”   
Kujo smiled, the happy memories of Emiko’s early life coming back to him.   
“And then we liked having Emiko so much, we just had to have another,” Kujo said, looking off in the distance as he recalled the memories, “I remember we debated for a long time if a Japanese or Sauvillian sibling would be better for her.”   
“I think it’s fitting, don’t you?” Victorique added, “A Japanese-Sauvillian couple raising children from their two homelands. A bit cliché perhaps, but fitting.”  
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Kujo in agreement.   
The silence returned once again.   
“Think they’ve figured it out?” Victorique asked.   
Kujo looked her in the eyes, unsure of her meaning.   
“Think they’ve figured out that they aren’t technically siblings?” she clarified.   
They had chosen to keep this detail away from their children at first, so they wouldn’t feel like they were any different from each other.   
“Well, I think they probably have,” Kujo replied, bringing his free hand to his chin in thought, “I mean, maybe they think their difference in skin color comes from the fact that you and I share the same difference, but they’re both getting older. And with age they become smarter. I think maybe they just don’t want to ask.”  
Victorique looked off to the side, trying to hide the tinge of sadness she felt.   
“Dominique and Emiko are our children,” she said, “And they are certainly brother and sister, there’s no doubt about that. But somehow it pains me to know that biologically speaking they actually aren’t.”   
Understanding Victorique’s feelings, Kujo took his free hand and placed it on her head, stroking her scalp in the comforting way he always did.   
“It’s strange, isn’t it?” he began, continuing to stroke her head, “Although we know without a doubt that they are our children, the fact that they aren’t ours in a biological sense is strangely saddening.”  
The silence descended on them again. It was slightly more depressing this time. Victorique and Kujo did not regret adopting their children, and they loved them with every fiber of their being. But it was precisely because of this love that a part of them wished that their children could be theirs biologically. There was a certain stigma against adopted children, after all. They wanted to protect their children from that.   
Thoughts like these crept anxiously through Victorique’s mind. She gave them some thought, churning them through her brain until she came to the obvious conclusion.   
“It doesn’t matter.”  
With the silence broken, Kujo looked at her.  
“It doesn’t matter,” Victorique repeated, “I don’t care if they’re our biological children or not. They are still our children. And I want to love and protect them until the very end. It doesn’t matter who their biological parents are. Those parents abandoned them. We are their parents now.”  
Kujo smiled. He realized that she was right, and that there was no use worrying about such things.   
“Let’s make a promise,” he said, “I have no doubts that both you and I will fulfill this promise whether we make it or not, but let’s make it anyway.”  
“What kind of promise?” Victorique asked, intrigued.   
“Let’s make a promise to each other today. Let’s make a promise to love and protect our children and each other until the very end. Biology be damned.”  
He took his hand off her head and extended his pinky finger to her. She looked at it with wide eyes. Normally, she would probably make fun of him for proposing something as childish as a pinky promise, but the promise he was suggesting was too important to be made fun of.   
She extended her own finger, wrapping it around his and grasping it tightly. In her thoughts, she made an additional promise to herself to never let go of this man. She needed him to help raise the kids, after all.   
She looked him in the eyes and spoke the words.   
“I promise.”


End file.
